Troops kill suicide attacker inside house south of Samarra

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) Pro-Iraqi government paramilitary troops have killed a suicide attacker inside a house south of Samarra, in Salahuddin province, a security source said on Monday.

“The 313 brigade of al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Public Mobilization Units] troops besieged on Monday a bomber, vested with a suicide belt, inside a house in al-Ishaqi district, south of Samarra,” the source told AlSumaria News.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said “troops killed the attacker after exchanging fire with him.”

Earlier on Sunday, the troops killed four suicide bombers as they attempted infiltration near Baiji city, northern Salahuddin.

The province has witnessed an escalation in IS attacks on troops deployed by Iraqi government forces and PMUs over the past months as Iraqi government forces continue to make gains in Mosul, the group’s largest stronghold in Iraq, since a security campaign launched in October to retake the city.

IS militants still pose a security threat in Salahuddin though security forces had recaptured large areas of the province since the group emerged in 2014 to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”.

PMUs have actively engaged with government forces in securing recaptured areas and searching for dormant IS cells in Salahuddin and other provinces.