Iraqi forces launched an offensive Thursday to retake western towns near the Syrian border from Daesh militants, a senior military officer said.
Government forces, backed by tribal fighters, started the onslaught aimed at recapturing the towns of Anah, Rawa and al-Qaim in Iraq's western province of Anbar, Brigadier Abdul-Karim al-Zawbai told dpa.
Last year, Iraqi forces, backed by US-led air power, retook Anbar's main cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from Daesh.
In recent months, the al-Qaeda splinter militia has suffered military setbacks and lost ground in Iraq.
In mid-October, Iraq started a major campaign to dislodge Daesh from its last urban stronghold of Mosul in the north.
Baghdad has since reported advances in the Mosul mission.
A senior army officer said Thursday that government forces have recaptured 49 out of a total of 56 districts in the eastern section of Mosul.
"The Iraqi forces are fighting battles in different parts of the area before they announce its complete liberation from Daesh," Abdul Wahab al-Saadi, a commander in the elite anti-terrorism force added, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
In recent weeks, Daesh has carried out a series of counter-attacks in different areas of Iraq with the aim of hampering the Mosul offensive.
Five civilians were killed on Thursday in a car bombing in Baghdad, the latest in a string of attacks in the capital claimed by Daesh.
The bombing near a market in the mostly Shiite eastern district of Abadi injured seven others, according to Saad Maan, a spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, the agency in charge of the city's security.
Daesh's semi-official Amaq agency said that the bombing targeted a crowd of Shias, without giving further details.
The radical Sunni group regards Shias as heretics.
Another car bomb exploded Thursday evening in the Shia-dominated Bab al-Moazzam area in central Baghdad. The blast killed one person and injured five, according to witnesses.
In the past few days, Baghdad has seen several deadly attacks claimed by Daesh.
At least 35 people were killed in a suicide attack in Baghdad's predominantly Shia suburb of Sadr City on Monday for which Daesh took responsibility.
By Osama al-Badrani and Sahar al-Badran
