Five Iraqi army personnel killed, 13 wounded in IS attack near Syrian borders

(IraqiNews.com) Five of the Iraqi army personnel, including an officer, and thirteen others were wounded on Saturday, in clashes that broke out in Nineveh province, a military source said.

“Around 100 Islamic State armed militants launched attack on the main headquarter of security troops in Tal Safuk village, in Nineveh province, on borders with Syria. They were using different kinds of weapons,” Lt. Gen. Younes Shilah al-Noa’mani, in charge of the ground military unit in Iraqi army told Arabs Today.

“The confrontations between Iraqi troops and the attackers lasted for around an hour and half, leaving eleven militants killed and forcing the rest to run away toward the common desert between Iraq and Syria,” Noa’mani said. “Five army personnel were killed, including a captain, while thirteen others were wounded. Three watchtowers and an armored vehicle for the army were damaged.”

On Friday, the media service of al-Hashd al-Shaabi [Popular Mobilization Forces] repulsed an attack by IS in Tal Safuk region, killing six militants and burning down a vehicle loaded with weapons.

IS has increasingly targeted security forces and civilians across Iraq over the past months coinciding with operations by the U.S.-backed Iraqi government forces which sought to retake areas occupied by the group since 2014.

Iraqi troops managed to retake several IS strongholds including Mosul and Tal Afar in Nineveh, Hawija in Kirkuk and Annah in Anbar. Only Qaim and neighboring Rawa currently remain in IS grip.

In a weekly press briefing on Tuesday, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a weekly press briefing on Tuesday that 2017 would witness the end of Islamic State’s existence in Iraq.