Islamic State’s Diyala State free of Arab, foreign militants for first time since 2014: Source
Islamic State militants
Speaking to Baghdad Today website, the source said, “All information from the intelligence department on Islamic State cells in Diyala State indicate that no Arab or foreign fighters exist, which is the first time since 2014.”
The absence of Arab and foreign militants in Diyala, according to the source, who preferred anonymity, is due to many reasons, “many of them were killed, while others moved to other places as result of security measures by the Diyala Operations Command.”
Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country. The group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.
Thousands of Islamic State militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016.
A total of 79 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 99 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in July 2018, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).