Baghdad, Iraq: At least 20 security personnel were killed on Wednesday and more than 40 others were injured from a series of seven car bomb attacks carried out in Ramadi city, the capital of the Iraqi western province of Anbar, said a police, reports Efe.

The bombs exploded almost simultaneously in several areas of the city, where heavy fighting between security forces and fighters for the Islamic State, according to the source.

Among the victims were members of the security forces, Shiite militiamen and fighters of government-allied Sunni tribes, the source said.

Iraqi authorities imposed a curfew in Ramadi in order to avoid civilian casualties in other attacks.

Several ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosions to evacuate the wounded and transfer them to the city’s hospitals.

The Sunni-majority Anbar province, located on the border with Syria, has been partially controlled by IS jihadists since January 2014, and has been a hotbed for ongoing military operations.

Iraqi security sources told Efe on Tuesday that the national troops launched a military operation in order to retake control over the city of Tikrit, and liberate it from the jihadist organisation.

Tikrit, the capital of the strategic Salahuddin province, has been under IS control since June and has remained a critical location for Iraqi authorities, which made attempts to recapture it early March.