Diyala police kill suicide bomber, foil attack east of Baqubah
Representational photo.
Baqubah (IraqiNews.com) Diyala police service said Wednesday security forces killed a suicide bomber before he carried out an attack on civilians.
Ghaleb al-Attiya, media official at the province’s police department, told Alsumaria News that a police force killed a suicide bomber after trapping him inside a vehicle he was riding at al-Kawthar, east of Baqubah.
Meanwhile, Alsumaria News quoted a local source saying that Mutaibija, an Islamic State militancy hotspot on the borders between Diyala and Salahuddin, has witnessed an “unprecedented calm” over the past 24 hours.
According to the source, the current quietness follows the death of several senior IS leaders in air raids. “Infiltrations of Mutaibija from Hawija and nearby regions have completely stopped over the past three days after all ground routes through Hamreen mountains were cut off.
Diyala and the borders with Salahuddin have seen occasional attacks by the militants on civilians and security forces, as well as counter offensives by government and paramilitary troops, over the past months as an Iraqi, U.S.-backed campaign pressed on to recapture areas held by the group since 2014.
A monthly count by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), which excludes security members deaths, said 196 Iraqi civilians were killed, while 381 others were wounded due to violence and armed conflicts during the month of September. The fatalities included 10 foreign nationals.
Iraqi forces are currently battling Islamic State out of its last few strongholds in Kirkuk and Anbar.