DIYALA, Iraq
At least 38 people were reported killed in three separate incidents in Iraq on Saturday.
30 militants affiliated with the insurgent group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been killed in air strikes launched by Iraq's security forces in Diyala province, according to police sources.
Five ISIL-owned vehicles equipped with anti-aircraft weapons were also destroyed during the army operations in the city of Baqubah, provincial police chief Jamil al-Shamari told Anadolu Agency.
Elsewhere in Iraq, six militias were killed in Saladin province on Saturday when unidentified assailants launched a suicide attack on their military barracks, police said.
The suicide blast in Balad district also left 16 people injured, Khaled al-Hazerji from Saladin police department told AA.
Separately, tribal sources told Anadolu Agency that two fighters lost their lives during clashes between pro-Maliki Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia group and ISIL.
The violence in Iraq has escalated since early June after a coalition of armed insurgent groups led by ISIL took control of large swathes of the country's predominantly Sunni provinces.
www.aa.com.tr/en
