Senior Iraqi army commander killed in battle: Iraqi PM

Deceased was identified as army commander of sixth division, Major General Negm Abdullah Ali.

BAGHDAD: A senior Iraqi general has been killed in battle, Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki said in a statement.

Major General Negm Abdullah Ali, army commander of the sixth division which is responsible for part of the capital Baghdad "met martyrdom on the battlefield as he was fighting ... terrorists", the statement said, without giving further details.

Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki's security spokesperson, Lieutenant General Qassem Atta told AFP by text that the general "was killed by hostile shelling in Ibrahim bin Ali."

Ibrahim bin Ali lies in the Abu Ghraib area, just west of Baghdad, near where security forces have been locked in a months-long standoff with militants who have seized control of the city of Fallujah.

The government lost control of Fallujah and parts of nearby Ramadi in January, and Iraqi forces have struggled to retake both cities.

More recently, a militant-led offensive overran swathes of four other provinces north of Baghdad, displacing hundreds of thousands of people, alarming the international community and heaping pressure on Maliki as he bids for a third term as premier.