Curfew in Samarra as 4 police killed in ISIS attack
An Iraqi soldier stands by the Malwiya (Spiral) Minaret in Samarra, Salahuddin.
The officers were killed in the “attack that targeted a checkpoint near the Malwiya (Sprial) Minaret ancient site in Samarra,” Gamal Akkab, media official at Salahuddin council, told Rudaw agency.
“Security forces imposed a curfew in the area immediately,” he stated.
Since 2014, violence surged in Iraq with the Islamic State militants taking over wide areas of the country, and the United Nations said earlier this month that 58000 people died since then. UN statistics say 3150 Iraqis were either killed or wounded in violence during October alone.
Late Sunday, also in Salahuddin province, two policemen were killed and 11 civilians were wounded in a mortar attack in Sharqat, which was again blamed on ISIS.
ISIS is currently struggling to defend Mosul, its last strategic foothold in Iraq, against continuous, successful advancements by Iraqi security forces and popular militias. With attacks carried out at several areas other than Mosul, observers and security officials believe the extremist group is trying to divert attention from its defeats in Mosul as well as to distract the focus of the assaulting security troops.