13 IS militants, including four leaders with explosive belts, killed in Diyala
Representational photo.
Diyala (Iraqinews.com) – Paramilitary troops killed on Sunday 13 Islamic State militants in a security campaign in northeastern Diyala, a military commander said.
“The Popular Mobilization Forces’ 24th brigade, backed by Iraqi warplanes, launched a wide-scale security campaign in northeastern Diyala, killing 13 IS militants, including four senior leaders with explosive belts,” the PMF’s 24th brigade commander Ziyad al-Tamimi told Alghad Press.
“The troops also destroyed five hotbeds and seized an arms depot for the terrorist group in Diyala,” he added.
On Saturday, a tribal figure was killed after IS members launched an attack against al-Awamer village on the outskirts of Qurret Tabbah town, northeast of Diyala.
“Security troops managed to repulse the attack and forced the militants out of the village,” a well-placed municipal official said.
Thousands of IS militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since a government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the U.S.-led international coalition, was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.
Since then, forces took back the group’s former capital, Mosul, the town of Tal Afar, Kirkuk’s Hawija, and each of Annah, Rawa and Qaim in Anbar.
The war against IS has so far displaced at least five million people. Thousands others fled toward neighboring countries including Syria, Turkey and other European countries.