Seven security men killed in sniper attacks by Islamic State over 3 months: source
Iraqi rapid response members prepare to cross the route to avoid being hit by Islamic State snipers in western Mosul, Iraq March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) – An Iraqi governmental source said on Monday that Islamic State snipers shot dead seven security men in Diyala province over the past three months.
Speaking to the Arabic-language Baghdad Today news website, the source said that seven army and police personnel were killed in sniper attacks by Islamic State in al-Waqf basin, 25 km northeast of Baqubah, in the past three months.
The source warned that the security situation in Diyala is still unstable due to the presence of Islamic State cells in several villages, calling on the government to immediately intervene to put an end to the terrorist attacks in the province.
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.