Ten suspects arrested, Islamic State rest houses destroyed, northwest of Baqubah

Baqubah (IraqiNews.com) Ten suspects were arrested, while two rest houses of the Islamic State were destroyed, northwest of Baquba, according to the Dijla Operations Command.

“Joint troops of police and army, supervised by the command, launched campaigns at regions of al-Ghalbiya, al-Hadid, al-Hashimiyat and Habhab, in northwest of Baqubah, in search for the IS’s sleeper cells,” Mag.Gen.Mazhar al-Azzawi told AlSumaria News on Tuesday.

“Two rest houses were destroyed and ten suspects were arrested and transferred to security departments for investigations,” Azzawi added.

The Dijla Operations Command launched a series of campaigns over the past few weeks in Diyala, which helped arresting several suspects.

Attacks launched by Islamic State militants against security troops, the pro-government forces and civilians surged over the past few weeks in northeast of Diyala, which urge the Iraqi forces to prevent the militants infiltration between Salahuddin and Kirkuk provinces, especially the regions stretching along Hamreen mountains and Al-Azeem town.

IS holds pivotal regions that link between each of Diyala, Salahuddin and Kirkuk, posing threats to the liberated regions.

The Iraqi government is urged to hasten with security operations to retake regions held by IS since 2014. However, the most attention is given to the battle in Mosul, Islamic State’s largest stronghold in Iraq.