One volunteer security agent killed in Baghdad checkpoint attack
An Iraqi officer passing by an explosion site in Baghdad.
A police source told Alsumaria News that a member of al-Sahwa (Awakening) was killed and another injured when unknown gunmen attacked their checkpoint in al-Doura, south of the capital.
Al-Sahwa Councils were Sunni militias formed following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 to combat al-Qaeda.
Violence surged in Iraq with the emergence of Islamic State militants who took over large areas of the country in 2014. Baghdad has been witnessing almost daily bombings targeting civilians and security personnel.
Nobody has claimed responsibility yet for the assault, but IS militants have said they had been responsible for several bloody explosions and attacks that hit the capital in the past months, bringing the governorate municipal and security officials under critics’ fire.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said violence in the country left nearly 382 dead, including security members, and 908 injured during January. Baghdad was the most affected province with 128 deaths and 444 injuries, according to the organization.
Observers believe Islamic State have begun to escalate attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses.