Soldiers, officer killed in terrorist attack in Iraq

Iraqi forces launch military operation “The Iron Hammer” against terrorist organization Daesh which carries out frequent attacks in the wide area between the Iraqi governates of Kirkuk, Saladin and Diyala on April 19, 2022 in Kirkuk, Iraq [Ali Makram Ghareeb/Anadolu Agency] ( Ali Makram Ghareeb – Anadolu Agency )

Several Iraqi military personnel, including a colonel and a number of soldiers, were killed in a terrorist attack to the east of the Saladin province in northern Iraq yesterday.

The Iraqi Ministry of Defence mourned Colonel Khaled Naji Wasak, the commander of the Second Battalion of the 93rd Infantry Brigade, and an unspecified number of soldiers who were “martyred yesterday while repelling a terrorist attack on a military checkpoint” in eastern Saladin.

The statement did not specify details about the attacking party or the number of military personnel killed in the attack. However, the private Iraqi TV channel, Alsumaria News, cited a security source as saying that the attack was carried out by armed individuals affiliated with Daesh.

The source added that initial information indicates that the attack resulted in the killing of five military personnel and the injury of five others.

Since the beginning of 2022, Iraqi forces have intensified combing and raid operations to pursue remnants of Daesh, which suffered defeat in 2017, losing a third of the country’s territory that it had seized in the summer of 2014.

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