Iraqi air strikes killed at least 32 people on Tuesday as security forces held off attacks on a strategic town and an oil refinery, officials and witnesses said.
In the town of Baiji, north of Baghdad, air strikes killed at least 19 people and wounded at least 17 others, officials said.The officials said the dead and wounded were civilians, and it was unclear if there were any casualties among the militants who were the target of the strikes.Iraqiya state television said 19 “terrorists” were killed in the Baiji raids.
In the Husseibah area of Anbar province, west of Baghdad, another air strike killed seven militants and six civilians, witnesses said.Elsewhere in Anbar, security forces and allied tribesmen held off an assault on the strategic town of Haditha, located on the road to provincial capital Ramadi, a police officer said.Militants also launched a renewed push to seize Iraq’s largest oil refinery, which is located near Baiji, but the overnight attack was repelled by security forces, officials said.