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BySinanSalaheddin The Associated Press BAGHDAD IslamicStateex- tremists unleashed a wave of suicide attacks target- ing the Iraqi army in west- ern Anbar province, killing at least 17 troops in a ma- jor blow to government ef- forts to dislodge the mili- tants from the sprawling Sunni heartland, an Iraqi military spokesman said Wednesday. The attacks came just hours after the Iraqi gov- ernment on Tuesday an- nounced the start of a wide- scale operation to recapture areas under the control of the IS group in Anbar. Brig. Gen Saad Maan Ibrahim, the spokesman for the Joint Military Com- mand, told The Associated Press the attacks took place outside the Islamic State- held city of Fallujah late Tuesday night. The militants struck near a water control station and a lock system on a canal be- tween Lake Tharthar and the Euphrates River where army forces have been de- ployed for the Anbar offen- sive, he said. Sandstorm Ibrahim added that the Islamic State extremists used a sandstorm that en- gulfed most of Iraq on Tuesday night to launch the deadly wave of bomb- ings. He said it was not clear how many suicide at- tackers were involved in the bombings but they hit the military from multiple di- rections. Last month, the water station near Fallujah fell into the hands of Islamic State militants — following attacks that also included multiple suicide bombings and that killed a general commanding the 1st Divi- sion and a dozen other of- ficers and soldiers, he said. Iraqi government forces recaptured the station a few days later. Fallujah lies to the east of the An- bar provincial capital of Ra- madi, which was captured by the Islamic State mili- tants nearly two weeks ago in what was a major, hu- miliating defeat for Iraqi troops at the hands of the extremists. The Iraqi operation to re- take Anbar, which is said to be backed by Shiite militias and Sunni pro-government fighters, is deemed critical in regaining momentum in the fight against the Islamic State. The extremists captured Ramadi in Iraq and the Syr- ian ancient town of Palmyra earlier this month, showing that it is able to advance in both countries despite months of U.S.-led airstrikes. Capt. Andrew Caulk, a U.S. Air Force spokesman in Qa- tar, told the AP it will con- tinue to provide air support "to government-controlled Iraqi forces" throughout the country, including near Ra- madi, where it has been car- rying out airstrikes for sev- eral months. In Palmyra, Syrian activ- ists said Islamic State mil- itants shot dead a group of detainees in the Roman the- ater in the town's ancient ruins after gathering people to watch. They said Islamic State gunmen killed at least 15 men after accusing them of having fought with Presi- dent Bashar Assad's troops. The incident — the first since the group captured the historic town — was re- ported by activists belong- ing to a Palmyra-based media collective and the Britain-based Syrian Obser- vatory for Human Rights. Roman-era ruins The theater is part of the 2,000-year-old Roman-era ruins in Palmyra. Syria's foreign minister also said Wednesday that his government is not pin- ning any hopes on the U.S.- led coalition striking at Is- lamic State group militants in his country. At a news conference in Damascus, Walid al-Moal- lem said the coalition was active in preventing the Kurdish town of Kobani from falling to the extrem- ists last year but that this support seems to have "evaporated" after that. The United States did nothing to prevent the an- cient town of Palmyra in Syria or the province of An- bar in Iraq from falling into their hands, he said. SUNNI HEARTLAND Is la mi c St at e su ic id e at ta ck s in Iraq's Anbar kill 17 troops KHALIDMOHAMMED—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Spanish soldiers prepare to participate in a training mission with an Iraqi army soldier, le , outside Baghdad on Wednesday. ANDY WONG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS China's Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun holds up a report on China's Military Strategy during a press conference at the State Council Information Office in Beijing, China, on Tuesday. By Lolita C. Baldor The Associated Press PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII Defense Secretary Ash Carter strongly defended America's right to fly over artificial islands that Bei- jing is building in the South China Sea, but gave few hints ahead of a visit to Asia this week about what the United States was willing to do to halt the construction effort. Carter responded to Chinese complaints about U.S. military flights over the projects by saying, "There should be no mis- take in this, the United States will fly, sail and op- erate wherever interna- tional law allows." His comments came in the wake of a formal Chi- nese protest over the flight last week of a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon surveil- lance aircraft over Fiery Cross Reef, where China is reclaiming land to build an island. Carter's forceful message signaled a sharp start to his 11-day trip that will take him across the Asia-Pacific region, with stops in Singapore, Viet- nam and India. But Carter did little to clarify what the U.S. is willing to do — diplomati- cally or militarily — to get China to stop the island construction. One senior U.S. official said there are discussions about conducting more military flights and pa- trols in the South China Sea near the projects. Of- ficials also are looking at ways to adjust the mili- tary exercises in the re- gion to increase U.S. pres- ence there if needed. The official was not authorized to discuss the options pub- licly and spoke on condi- tion of anonymity. One possibility would be for U.S. ships to travel within 12 miles of the artifi- cial islands, to further make the point that they are not sovereign Chinese land. Pentagon chief says flights will continue over artificial islands CHINESE COMPLAINTS By Graham Dunbar The Associated Press ZURICH The U.S. govern- ment launched a corruption attack on soccer's global governing body Wednesday, pulling FIFA executives out of a luxury Zurich hotel to face racketeering charges and raiding regional offices in Miami. Swiss officials also in- vaded FIFA headquar- ters, seizing records and computers to investigate whether the decisions to award World Cups to Rus- sia and Qatar were rigged. Scandals and rumors of deeper corruption have dogged FIFA throughout the 17-year reign of its pres- ident, Sepp Blatter, but he was not named in either in- vestigation. He is scheduled to stand Friday for re-elec- tion to fifth term, and the organization said the vote would go ahead as planned, despite the latest turmoil. FIFA also ruled out a revote of the World Cup bids won by Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. "We welcome the actions and the investigations by the U.S. and Swiss au- thorities and believe that it will help to reinforce measures that FIFA has already taken to root out any wrongdoing in foot- ball," Blatter said in a statement. The organiza- tion said it was cooperat- ing fully with the investi- gation. Authorities conducted early morning raids in Zu- rich at FIFA headquarters and the five-star Baur au Lac Hotel downtown in the investigations. In Miami, evidence was seized at the headquarters of CONCA- CAF, the governing body of North and Central America and the Caribbean, whose past and current presidents were among 14 defendants under indictment for cor- ruption. Swiss police arrested seven soccer official at the request of American prose- cutors and threatened them with extradition to the U.S. Four other soccer and mar- keting officials agreed to plead guilty. "Beginning in 1991, two generations of soccer offi- cials ... used their positions of trust within their respec- tive organizations to solicit bribes from sports market- ers in exchange for the com- mercial rights to their soc- cer tournaments," U.S. At- torney General Loretta E. Lynch said at a news con- ference in New York. "They did this over and over, year after year, tournament af- ter tournament." American prosecutors said they will seek forfei- ture of more than $151 mil- lion the government alleges was illegally obtained. Richard Weber, head of the IRS Criminal Division, called the developments "the World Cup of fraud." Two current FIFA vice presidents were among those arrested and indicted, Jeffrey Webb of the Cay- man Islands and Eugenio Figueredo of Uruguay, the Justice Department said. The others are Eduardo Li of Costa Rica, Julio Rocha of Nicaragua, Costas Tak- kas of Britain, Rafael Es- quivel of Venezuela and Jose Maria Marin of Brazil. All seven are connected with the regional confeder- ations of North and South America and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. FIFA suspended 11 peo- ple, including Webb and Figueredo, from all soccer- related activities following the U.S. announcement. 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