Airstrike kills 3 Islamic State members on Diyala-Salahuddin borders
Representational photo.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) An airstrike destroyed a vehicle boarded by Islamic State militants on the borders between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, killing three on board, a local source was quoted saying on Monday.
The source told Alsumaria News that the airstrike targeted the vehicle at Bou Awwad region, Hawi al-Udhaim, 90 kilometers north of Baqubah.
The network quoted another security source saying that the three militants killed in the raid included the group’s area security commander nicknamed Abu Zakariya, an Iraqi.
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).