ISIS members detonate themselves during clash with Iraqi forces in Shingal

The incident occurred about 40 kilometers from the Iraqi-Syrian border near the village of Girzark in Nineveh province’s Shingal district.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Three Islamic State members on Sunday detonated their suicide vests during a confrontation with Iraqi security forces in Nineveh province’s Sinjar (Shingal) district, a commander from the area said.

The incident occurred about 40 kilometers from the Iraqi-Syrian border near the village of Girzark, Haider Shasho, the Commander of the Ezidkhan Protection Force (HPE) in Shingal, told Kurdistan 24.

“A group of armed suicide bomber Da’esh [ISIS] members” attacked Sunni components of the Hashd al-Shaabi militias and, “following clashes, three [ISIS] fighters blew themselves up,” the commander added. Iraqi media reported that six Islamic State fighters had been involved in the exchange.

Shasho said that one militia member was also injured due to the blast.

In a brief statement on the incident, Iraq’s Ministry of Interior only confirmed the three casualties from the terrorist group’s side.

Commander Shasho claimed the Islamic State members had crossed over into Iraq after fleeing the terrorist organization’s last holdout in Syria’s Baghouz.

On Saturday, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the territorial collapse of the Islamic State in Syria, following the liberation of the group’s last small patch of land in the village of Baghouz, near the Iraqi border and on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany