ANBAR, Iraq
Fifteen thousand people from Iraq's Sunni tribes will join to the ranks of Iraqi army in western Anbar province against the ongoing fight against the self-styled Islamic State (IS) militant group.
"Defense and Interior ministries approved joining of 15,000 volunteers from the tribes into Iraqi army troops for the ongoing fight," said Sabah Kerhot, head of Anbar provincial council.
"The voluntary troops will join Iraqi army and police ranks after the establishment of the new Iraqi government, (due to be formed in the upcoming weeks)" he said.
(Iraqi President Fuad Masum appointed deputy parliament speaker al-Abadi to form a new government in the coming weeks, replacing the cabinet led by Nouri al-Maliki.)
Armed groups linked to the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, captured Iraq's Sinjar and Rabia in the Nineveh province last week after fierce clashes, forcing thousands of Iraqis including Turkmen, Arabs and Ezidis to flee.
The violence in Iraq escalated in early June after a coalition of armed groups linked to the Islamic State took control of large swathes of the country's predominantly Sunni provinces, including Mosul, Tıkrit, Baqubah and Tal Afar.
Meanwhile, two people died and 10 more were injured in a blast in Kirkuk targeting the house of an officer from Iraqi Intelligence Service.
The perpetrators are yet to be determined. Iraq's disputed Kirkuk province is under the control of Iraqi Kurdish forces, but the bomb attacks continue at the center.
www.aa.com.tr/en
