Seven paramilitary personnel killed, injured in bomb blast, southwest of Kirkuk
Unidentified gunmen attack a checkpoint of Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi
Speaking to AlSumaria News, the source said, “a bomb exploded, in the evening, as a patrol of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) was passing at al-Najatiya village in Hawija, leaving one personnel killed and six others injured.”
“The troops transferred the victim to forensic medicine department, while the wounded were taken to hospital for treatment,” the source, who preferred anonymity, added without giving further details.
A total of 91 Iraqi civilians were killed and 208 others were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in February, according to the monthly report issued by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).
Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, with 195 civilian casualties (49 killed, 146 injured). Anbar Governorate ranked second place, with 14 killed and 37 injured, and Diyala had 12 killed and 11 injured.
As many as 3,298 civilians were killed and 4,781 others were wounded in 2017, excluding Anbar civilian casualty figures for November and December, which are not available, UNAMI said in a report in December.
Thousands of IS militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.