Iraqi security forces shell 3 Islamic State outposts in Diyala
A Shi’ite volunteer wearing a mask, who has joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), looks on during a parade on a street in Kanaan, Diyala province, June 26, 2014.
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi security forces bombarded on Wednesday three terrorist hotbeds of the Islamic State militant group in Diyala province, a security source said.
Speaking to the privately-owned Baghdad Today news website, the source said that the mortar attack came after monitoring suspicious activities by Islamic State militants in al-Mutaibeeja, located on the border between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces.
The source warned that IS cells remain active in some parts of the province, urging an immediate action to eliminate remaining IS militants as soon as possible.
Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in November 2017 with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.
IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.