SWAT officer sustains injury in Iraq bomb explosion
Iraqi security forces evacuate an injured soldier during heavy fighting against Islamic State group militants in Fallujah, Iraq, Wednesday, June 15, 2016. Fallujah has been locked in a cycle of conflict since 2003, when it emerged as a bastion of the insurgency against the Americans. Militant attacks and bombings were followed by sweeping arrest raids, which further stoked local grievances. In 2004, U.S. troops launched two massive assaults on the city, where they fought their bloodiest battles since Vietnam. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)
Diyala (Iraqinews.com) – A SWAT officer was wounded Sunday as a bomb explosion targeted a police vehicle in Iraq’s Diyala province, a security source was quoted as saying.
Speaking to Alghad Press, the source said an explosive charge went off while a police vehicle was passing by al-Mokhisa gardens on the outskirts of Abu Saida district in Diyala.
“The explosion left a SWAT officer wounded,” the source said, adding that a probe was launched to identify perpetrators of the attack.
The source noted that the injured policeman was moved to a nearby hospital for treatment.
In January 2015, Iraqi forces announced liberation of Diyala province from Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The province has seen months of fighting between Iraqi troops and IS militants especially in the Jalawla and Saadiyah areas in the province’s north and areas near the town of Muqdadiyah.
Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country.