BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb killed eight and wounded 16 others in Iraq's western province of Anbar Wednesday, a provincial security source said.

The suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a checkpoint managed by Iraqi soldiers and local Sunni tribal fighters in the early morning at the southern entrance of al-Qaim, a former Islamic State (IS) stronghold on Anbar's borders with Syria, Major Subhi Ibrahim from Anbar's Operations Command told Xinhua.

In December 2017, Iraq officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group, including the border areas and desert in western Iraq.

However, militant remnants regrouped in urban and rugged areas, carrying out attacks against security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down.