Dozens of Iraqi security force members killed in army base attack

At least 42 members of Iraq's security forces have been killed in a suicide attack targeting an army base north of Fallujah, in Iraq's Anbar province.

The bombing was carried out with an armored Humvee vehicle laden with explosives, military sources told Al Jazeera.

Witnesses said ammunition stored in the base's depot continued to explode several hours after the initial attack, which occurred at 3 a.m. local time Monday.

Iraqi officials said the death toll of the attack was likely to rise.

The attack came a day after Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's prime minister, acknowledged the loss of about 2,300 Humvee armored vehicles when the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) overran the northern city of Mosul last year.

Also on Monday, at least 33 Iraqi soldiers and allied militia fighters were killed in an ambush by ISIL fighters in Seddiqiya in Anbar province.

More than 40 others were injured in the attack in the town east of the provincial capital Ramadi, military sources told Al Jazeera.

For its part, the Iraqi defense ministry said fighter jets had carried out fresh air strikes on ISIL targets in Anbar and Salahuddin provinces.

The ministry released a video of the raids and said in a statement that many ISIL fighters were killed while equipment and buildings used as headquarters were destroyed.

The footage, released late Sunday, appears to be filmed from an aircraft over Anbar, where the Iraqi air force is supporting the ground offensive against ISIL.

Last month, the Iraqi government declared the start of a major offensive to recapture areas under the control of ISIL group in Anbar.

The announcement came after the government suffered a humiliating defeat in Ramadi.

Al Jazeera