Military announces discovery of ISIS drone on an island in an Iraqi lake

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi security forces announced on Friday that they had discovered and confiscated an Islamic State drone on an island in a lake in Diyala province. 

According to a statement released by the Iraqi Security Media Cell, joint forces from Iraqi intelligence services, local security, and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) "found a drone belonging to the ISIS terrorist gangs hidden on an island in Hamrin Lake during a raid on hideouts of the terrorist organization."  

Iraq's military provided no additional details.

The accuracy of the statement could not be confirmed, nor do the photographs released with it conclusively show a working unmanned aerial vehicle that is connected to Islamic State militants. 

On Sept. 10, the US-led coalition dropped over 36,000 kilograms of bombs on Islamic State positions on an island in an Iraqi river, the US-led coalition spokesperson said on Tuesday, adding that it was done “to disrupt Daesh [Islamic State] the ability to hide in the thick vegetation.”

Read More: US-led coalition drops 36,000 kg of bombs on ‘ISIS-infested island’ in Iraq 

According to a statement from the US Central Command (CENTCOM), the airstrikes were part of an operation by the US-led coalition and the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service against Islamic State positions in Qanus Island, located in Iraq’s Salahuddin province. 

Yahya Rasoul, a spokesperson for the Iraqi army, said that such operations aim to prevent cross-border movement of Islamic State members between Syria and Iraq. 

Despite nearly two years having passed since Baghdad declared a final victory over the Islamic State, the group continues to conduct attacks in areas it once controlled, embarking on a wave of kidnappings, assassinations, and bombings that have raised fears of a new stage of heightened insurgency. 

Early on Friday, three farmers were wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off under a tractor in the disputed district of Jalawla, located in Diyala province not far from Hamrin Lake.

Read More: Separate blasts in Iraq's disputed territories kill 1, wound 4

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, but the area has seen multiple similar attacks claimed by the Islamic State.  

Editing by John J. Catherine