IS militants kill Iraqi border guard, wound another in Diyala province
Security forces defend their headquarters against attacks by Islamic State during sand storm in Ramadi. (AP Photo)
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) – An Iraqi border guard was killed and another injured in clashes with Islamic State militants near a security checkpoint on the border between Iraq and Iran, a security source said.
Speaking to Al-Kishla News website, the source said that IS militants launched an attack on a security checkpoint on the outskirts of Khanaqin in northeastern Diyala.
Fierce clashes erupted afterwards between the security forces and the IS militants, leaving a border guard dead and another wounded, the source added.
In January 2015, Iraqi forces announced liberation of Diyala province from Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The province has seen months of fighting between Iraqi troops and IS militants especially in the Jalawla and Saadiyah areas in the province’s north and areas near the town of Muqdadiyah.
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.