Security beefed up in Diyala as Iraqis commemorate terrorist attack victims
Iraqi security men
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) — Security measures have been beefed up in the Iraqi province of Diyala as hundreds of citizens are set to commemorate the victims of a suicide bombing that targeted a popular gathering in 2014, leaving over 50 people dead and wounded.
A local source told Iraqi website Baghdad Today that security forces have been heavily deployed in Basha Kobri district and its neighborhoods to secure a ceremony in commemoration of the victims of the suicide bombing attack that took place near the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in April 2014, leaving over 50 people dead and wounded.
The source added that the commemoration ceremony will be attended by a raft of officials, as well as political and well-placed officials and citizens.
The Islamic State (IS) militant group has been behind attacks targeting crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq over the past few years.
Former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of military operations against Islamic State in Iraq on December 9, 2017 three years after the militant group captured about a third of Iraq’s territory.
The jihadist group had seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, when it proclaimed a “caliphate” and imposed its rule over some 10 million people.