Policeman killed, 2 wounded in IED blast northeast of Baqubah

Baqubah (IraqiNews.com) A policeman was killed and two others were wounded Monday when a roadside bomb exploded northeast of Baqubah, Diyala, a local source was quoted saying.

The source told Alsumaria News that the bomb was placed on the side of a country road near Tawakkol village (40 Km northeast of Baqubah), and exploded when the police patrol was passing by.

Earlier on Monday, Dijlah Security Operations commander Mezher al-Ezzawi said three rest houses belonging to the militant group were seized northeast of Diyala.

An airstrike also destroyed a vehicle boarded by Islamic State militants on the borders between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, killing three on board, a local source told Alsumaria News earlier today.

Islamic State members have escalated their attacks against security and civilians over the past months as Iraqi forces were focusing most of their efforts to drive the group out of Mosul, the militants’ former capital which was declared free earlier this month. More than 25000 militants were killed in the Mosul campaign, according to Iraqi generals, including both foreign and local members, while a few thousands remain in other havens in Diyala, Salahuddin, Kirkuk and Anbar which the Iraqi government plans to target with future military offensives.

Violence and armed conflicts in Iraq left more than 700 Iraqis dead and wounded during the month of June, according to a monthly casualty count released by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI).