Iraqi forces kill 57 Islamist militants in Sunni province

Iraqi security forces take part in an intensive security deployment during clashes with the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the city of Ramadi, 100 km (62 miles) west of Baghdad, February 2, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi troops and allied tribesmen killed 57 Islamist militants in Anbar province on Monday, the Defence Ministry said, in advance of a possible assault on the Sunni Muslim rebel-held city of Falluja.

There was no independent verification of the toll among the militants, said to be members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a jihadi group also fighting in the civil war in neighbouring Syria.