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The Iraqi Interior Ministry said that its forces targeted and injured the first deputy of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State group (IS), in an airstrike in Anbar province in western Iraq amidst clashes south of Ramadi, the capital of the province.

The Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that an intelligence branch of the Interior Ministry tracked the movements of Abu Ali al-Anbari, Baghdadi's deputy, after he entered al-Ish area in the town of Jazira near the Syrian border.

The intelligence branch relayed the information to a joint operations room, before the Iraqi air force bombed the building where Anbari was reportedly present. Anbari was injured along with dozens of IS militants, while 15 were reportedly killed, including leading IS militant commanders.

According to the statement, Anbari was taken by members of the group to the Syrian border town of al-Bukamal for treatment.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Baghdad said that the US-led international coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria launched 12 airstrikes on IS positions in several parts of Iraq.

A tribal leader involved in the fight against IS, Ammar al-Isawi, told al-Araby al-Jadeed's Arabic service that the security forces are seeking to liberate al-Malab district in southern Ramadi from IS control.

"Clashes between the two sides have been on-going since last night," Isawi said, pointing out that IS is "desperate to defend the area."

'Within days'... or 'months'

Iraqi Defence Minister Khalid al-Obaidi pledged that Ramadi would be liberated "within days."

The Iraqi Ministry of Defence quoted Obaidi as saying that the Iraqi army has passed the difficult stage "thanks to the support of its people," and that Iraq's security forces will defeat IS, "several of whose members have fled, leaving their weapons and the bodies of their dead in the battlefields" behind them.

But another leading tribal figure who is fighting IS, Adnan al-Ithawi, told al-Araby al-Jadeed: "The battle against the organisation (IS) is difficult and needs months to be resolved."

He pointed out that the Iraqi Air Force was not able to expedite victory or - on several occasion - avoid civilian casualties, and need more air support from the Americans, according to Ithawi.

More than 60 Iraqi pilots were killed during the fight against IS militants, according to the Iraqi Air Force command.