BAGHDAD

More than 500 families have fled the Albu Farraj area to Ramadi city after Daesh seized control of the area, said an Iraqi official Friday. 

 Daesh seized control of the Albu Farraj area Friday in the north of Ramadi city, the capital of the western Iraqi province of Anbar.

The Iraqi security forces retreated from the area because they ran out of ammunition after fierce clashes with Daesh, Mezhar al-Delimi, a member of the Anbar province’s council said.

The families took refuge in schools and other governmental building in central Ramadi, al-Delimi added. 

Daesh “sleeper cells” in the area engaged with the Iraqi security forces and facilitated Daesh’s attack in the area, a security official, who preferred not to divulge his name, told The Anadolu Agency.

Meanwhile, 27 Daesh militants were killed in airstrikes by the U.S.-led international coalition on Albu Farraj, Azal al-Fahdawi, a member of Anbar province’s council, said.

Iraqi security forces managed to repel Daesh attacks on Ramadi except for Albu Farraj area, al-Fahdawi added.

The Iraqi security forces launched a military operation on Wednesday to wrest control of Anbar province from Daesh with the help of 10,000 Sunni tribal fighters.

On Thursday, four people from the Khazraj Shiite tribe were killed and 24 others wounded in clashes with Daesh in the town of al-Dujail located south of Tikrit in the northern province of Saladin, a medical source told The Anadolu Agency.

The tribal fighters have repelled Daesh attack on the town, a security official said.