BAGHDAD
Some 52 militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) have been killed in an ambush in Ramadi, the capital of the western province of Anbar, an anti-terror official said Monday.
Abu BAkr al-Anbari, a senior leader of the dreaded group, was one of those killed in the ambush, the official told Anadolu Agency, requesting anonymity.
The Iraqi army has been waging a major offensive in Anbar since last December with the stated aim of flushing out militants.
Hundreds have been killed and injured since in Anbar's two key cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, according to government estimates.
Tens of thousands have also been displaced.
Many local Sunni tribes opposed to Iraq's Shiite-dominated government, meanwhile, continue to voice anger over the army campaign's mounting civilian death toll.
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