Ramadi

The assault west of Anbar's provincial capital, Ramadi, involved three vehicles, including two fuel trucks, officials said. The outpost housed a joint contingent of army soldiers, policemen and allied Sunni militiamen, they said.

The officials, a military officer and a police officer, say numerous roadside bombs targeted a military convoy Wednesday morning as it was traveling on a highway outside the Islamic State-held city of Ramadi. They say that the attack in Khabaz area, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Ramadi, also wounded 10 soldiers.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

The suicide bombers rammed explosives-laden Humvees into forces deployed outside of the University of Ramadi complex, two Iraqi officials told The Associated Press.

The officials — one with the Iraqi army, the other with the country's elite counterterrorism forces — also said that eight Iraqi soldiers were wounded in the bombing.

Shortly afterward, clashes erupted southwest of Ramadi, killing one soldier and wounding eight others, the officials said, while 14 militants were also killed.

The university, located 5 kilometers (3 miles) south of Anbar's provincial capital, the militant-held city of Ramadi, was under the full control of government forces, which had entered the complex early Sunday amid intense combat with the militant group.

The news that about 3,000 U.S.-trained Iraqi army soldiers were added to the fight in recent days was disclosed to Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who spent the day getting updates and meeting with U.S. and Iraqi officials and commanders in Baghdad.

It was Carter's first visit to Iraq since he took office in February.