Iraqi troops destroy Islamic State hideout in Diyala
Iraqi troops carrying weapons during a fight against Islamic State
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops destroyed on Monday an Islamic State hideout in Diyala province, the military intelligence directorate said.
“Intelligence officers from the 18th brigade launched an attack on an IS hideaway at Wadi al-Kalal area east of Diyala,” the Directorate of General Military Intelligence said in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Baghdad Today website.
“Fierce clashes erupted between the two sides, prompting an Islamic State militant to blow himself up,” the statement read, adding that the troops killed another IS militant on site.
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The surge in violence between armed groups and government forces has resulted in over 3 million internally displaced persons across Iraq and left more than 11 million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in Iraq earlier in November with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.
A government campaign, backed by the US-led international coalition, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens.