The Anbar Police Command recently announced a series of new measures aimed at stopping security breaches at city entrances and checkpoints in the aftermath of several "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) car bombings.

These will include the deployment of explosives detectors at the entrances of cities, Ramadi mayor Ibrahim al-Awsaj told Diyaruna.

Police will in the near future begin operating sonar vehicles, he said, which include advanced equipment that can detect weapons and explosive materials.

The vehicles will be deployed in co-ordination with the Interior Ministry, the Anbar Police Command and the Anbar provincial council.

"Anbar police chief Maj. Gen. Hadi Kassar Erzaij will personally supervise the training, to be delivered by explosives experts, of the police personnel who will operate the sonar vehicles," the mayor said.

This comes in conjunction with tightened vehicle explosives inspection procedures at the entrances of cities in Anbar to prevent ISIL elements from infiltrating into the province again, he said.

Need for public vigilance

As it comes under increasing pressure in Mosul, ISIL has mounted a series of attacks in Anbar that have been mitigated due to the increased vigilance of the security forces and the co-operation of civilians, officials said.

On November 19th, three members of the Iraqi forces were killed when an ISIL truck bomb they were trying to defuse exploded in Ramadi, AFP reported.

A large truck packed with explosives was intercepted by security forces in the city's Tamim neighbourhood.

"Three members of the police's disposal team, one of them a lieutenant colonel, were killed and the head of the squad was wounded, as they tried to defuse the truck," said a police lieutenant colonel.

Iraq's interior ministry spokesman said the driver had been arrested.

"The goal of the terrorists was to enter Tamim area and destroy one of the main bridges in the city to cut Ramadi centre from its western edges," said Falah Qaraghouli, tribal mobilisation forces commander in western Anbar.

Security forces received intelligence about the truck two days prior and had been monitoring its entry through the western axis of the city, he told Diyaruna.

The truck was stopped and its driver was arrested before he reached his target, in a location far from residential neighbourhoods, he said.

In nearby Fallujah, security measures were tightened following two November 15th car bomb attacks, officials said.

"The two car bombs were driven by suicide bombers who fled Fallujah after the liberation battles," Fallujah police chief Col. Jamal al-Jumaili told Diyaruna.

No one is supporting ISIL inside the city, which means the group has been forced to carry out attacks from the outside, he noted.

Support for security forces

ISIL continues to target the cities of Anbar, despite its crushing losses in al-Rutba , Fallujah and Ramadi, al-Jumaili said.

But most attacks have failed, due to the improved security situation in the province, he said, attributing this to the great co-operation of civilians with the security apparatus.

Co-operation with the security forces has been "significant", he said, with members of the public sharing information with local police forces and other security apparatuses and complying with security instructions.

Displaced Fallujah residents returned to their homes after their identities were verified and they were issued with security permits, said Anbar provincial council member Karim al-Karbouli.

"You will not find any suspects supporting terrorism in the city, except those who are trying to sneak in," he told Diyaruna.

Residents have suffered a lot at the hands of ISIL, he said. As a result, they are providing information to the security forces and complying with new security measures as they do not want those days to return.