Policeman shot dead by sniper in border area between Diyala, Salahuddin

Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A policeman was shot dead by a sniper while on duty in a border area between Diyala and Salahuddin, a local source told Alghad Press.

“A police officer stationed at a security checkpoint at Albu Eissa area between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces was shot dead by a sniper,” the source said on Wednesday.

“The body of the slain policeman was moved to the forensic medicine department,” the source said, adding that a manhunt was launched for the assailant.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The surge in violence between armed groups and government forces has resulted in over 3 million internally displaced persons across Iraq and left more than 11 million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

A total of 117 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 264 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in November, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in Iraq earlier in November with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.