Three servicemen injured as military operation underway in Iraq’s Tuz Khurmatu

Salahuddin (Iraqinews.com) – Three army personnel were wounded Wednesday in a bomb explosion in Salahuddin’s multi-ethnic district of Tuz Khurmatu, security and medical sources were quoted as saying.

“An armored vehicle manned by troops from the army’s 9th armored brigade was targeted by a bomb blast during a military operation to eliminate Islamic State and White Flags militants in the eastern part of Tuz Khurmatu,” the sources told Shafaq News.

“Three servicemen were wounded in the explosion and carried to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the sources added.

Earlier in the day, a joint force from the Iraqi army, police, Salahuddin Operations Command and al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) launched a military operation to purge the eastern part of Tuz Khurmatu from the Islamic State and White Flags groups.

The troops managed to liberate three villages east of Tuz Khurmatu in Salahuddin province from the White Flags group and destroyed a booby-trapped vehicle that was meant to target security forces, the PMF said in a statement.

The operation was launched with the aim of eliminating outlaws, IS remnants and White Flags militants in Tuz Khurmatu, in addition to securing the road between Baghdad and Kirkuk.

Members of the White Flags are estimated at hundreds, and the group’s main bases are in mountains and highlands.