Nine policemen, including commander, killed, wounded in bomb blast in Diyala
Iraqi government forces in Hamreen Mountains in Diyala.
“A bomb went off, today, targeting police troops in al-Terfaya region, at the outskirts of Jalawla, northeastern Diyala,” Walhan al-Karwi, member of Jalawla municipal council, told Alghad Press.
“The blast left two policemen killed and seven others, including a commander and another officer, wounded,” Karwi said. “The victims were taken to forensic medicine department, while the wounded were transferred to hospital for treatment.”
Earlier on the day, a local source in Jalawla said seven policemen, including a commander, were killed and injured due to the blast.
Diyala police launched earlier a wide scale military operation along with army troops to follow Islamic State remnants in Jalawla.
In remarks to journalists, Col. Ghaleb al-Attiya, spokesperson of Diyala police, said, “the operation targets eliminating the militants at the villages there and securing them.”
Sources from Dijla Operations Command said the operation targets combing the region in the vicinity of Hamreen mountains.
According to the monthly release by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), a total of 69 civilians, excluding police personnel, were killed, while 142 others were wounded in December due to acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict across the country.
3298 civilians were killed and 4781 others were wounded in 2017, excluding Anbar civilian casualty figures for November and December, which are not available, the report added.