At least 11 killed in Iraq's Ramadi as fighting continues nationwide

Anti-government demonstrators previously protested in Anbar province for months until Baghdad commissioned an operation to oust them from their demonstration site (File Archive/AFP)

At least 11 Iraqi police were killed in an offensive near the city of Ramadi Friday, according to Agence France Presse.

Sunni militants allegedly launched an attack on the police personnel near the provincial capital of Anbar province, leaving 11 dead and wounding another 24 security personnel.

Militants have be intermittently in control of Ramadi since seizing the city earlier this year.  

In recent days, militants seized a police station in the city and destroyed another one.

Anti-government fighters have been using Ramadi as well as Fallujah, cities both outside of Baghdad's control since the start of the year, to prepare their major advance nationwide that has left the government struggling to reclaim control in five of the country's provinces.