This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32961448

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Islamic State bomb attack 'kills Iraqi police' Iraq: Islamic State bomb attack 'kills 45 police officers'
(about 1 hour later)
Three explosives-laden vehicles have been blown up beside a police base in Iraq's Anbar province, killing 45 officers, officials say. At least 45 Iraqi police officers have been killed in an attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Anbar province, security officials say.
Thirty-three others were wounded by the blast at the facility in the Tharthar area, on a road that connects the cities of Samarra and Falluja. Suicide bombers rammed three vehicles packed with explosives into a base in the Tharthar area, on a road connecting the cities of Falluja and Samarra.
A source in the Anbar Operations Command said Islamic State (IS) suicide bombers had driven the vehicles. Several high-ranking officers were among the casualties, one source said.
Several high-ranking officers were among the casualties, the source added. Anbar has been the scene of fierce fighting between pro-government forces and IS militants in recent weeks.
A volunteer force of mostly Iranian-backed Shia militias has launched an operation to regain control of the provincial capital, Ramadi, which fell to IS last month.
Iranian rocket launchers
A security source in the Anbar Operations Command told the BBC that three car bombs and an armoured Humvee captured by IS were used in Monday's attack on the headquarters of the 3rd Battalion of the Iraqi Federal Police's 21st Brigade.
Several senior officers were killed and the commander of the 9th Brigade, Brig Gen Moussa Haider, was among the 33 wounded, the source added.
Separately, a senior security source in Anbar told the BBC the "final touches" were being put to a plan to drive IS out of Ramadi and that it would begin within days.
The source said six Iranian-made Zelzal-2 rocket launchers had been transported to the frontline in Anbar. The Zelzal-2 fires unguided rockets carrying 600kg (1,320lb) warheads and has a range of 100 to 300km (60-185 miles).
Three-thousand fighters had also completed basic training near Habbaniya military base, east of Ramadi, in preparation for the assault on the city, the source added.