(VOVworld) - A total of 40 Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Saturday in US-led coalition air strikes and clashes with Iraqi security forces and allied militias in Iraq's western province of Anbar and north of the capital Baghdad, Iraqi defense ministry said. The troops, backed by international and Iraqi aircraft clashed with the IS militants near the IS-held town of Garma, some 50 km west of Baghdad, leaving 12 militants killed, the defense ministry said in a statement. The battle also destroyed eight IS positions and five vehicles, including three booby-trapped ones, the statement said. Meanwhile, the troops and the militias, also known as Hashd Shaabi, or popular mobilization, killed 25 more extremist militants in an operation near Tarmiyah area, some 40 km north of Baghdad. During the operation, the troops defused three booby-trapped houses and seven roadside bombs, along with arresting 17 suspected terrorists. In addition, the security forces separately seized two large caches of weapons, explosives and ammunition in the areas of Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad, and near the town of Garma.

A member of the Iraqi forces stands next to a damaged armed vehicle in the Garma district, west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, on April 20, 2015.