Ten IS members killed in airstrike on Diyala, Salahuddin borders: Commander
Airstrike by the US-led international coalition aircraft.
Speaking to AlSumaria News, Maj. Gen. Mazhar al-Azzawi, commander of Dijla Operations, said, “army jets destroyed two IS rest houses in al-Mayta region, located on borders between Diyala and Salahuddin, north of Baqubah.”
“The shelling of the rest houses left 10 IS members killed,” he added. “The operation was carried out after information gathered by the intelligence of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) accurately located the two rest houses.
Security services in Diyala destroyed several IS rest houses over the past few months in sporadic regions across the province, especially near borders with Salahuddin.
Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, have been fighting since October 2016 to retake territories Islamic State had occupied. Since then, forces took back the group’s former capital, Mosul, the town of Tal Afar, Kirkuk’s Hawija, and Anbar’s Annah, Rawa and Qaim.
The war against IS has displaced at least five million people. Thousands others fled towards neighboring countries including Syria, Turkey and other European countries, since IS emerged to proclaim its self-styled “caliphate”.