Baghdad, Oct 4 (IANS): Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi honoured a security member for his bravery in thwarting a suicide car bombing in the western province of Anbar, the military said.

"Al-Kadhimi ordered the promotion of Hamid Shuaib Abdullah to a higher military rank and a financial reward for his courage in confronting the car bomb that a suicide terrorist was driving in the city of Ramadi," Xinhua news agency quoted a statement issued on Sunday by the media office of Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) as saying.

Earlier in the day, the JOC said in a statement that a suicide bomber detonated his car bomb in Ramadi, some 160 km west of Baghdad, after the security forces opened fire on him without causing human casualties.

However, a provincial security source anonymously told Xinhua that the huge blast killed the suicide bomber and injured five civilians at the scene.

Over the past few months, the Islamic State (IS) militants have intensified attacks on the Iraqi security forces in the provinces the group previously controlled, leaving dozens dead and wounded.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the forces defeated IS in 2017.

However, the IS remnants have been carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against the security forces and civilians.