Iraqi security forces killed, missing after IS attack in Diyala

ERBIL, (Kurdistan 24) – Islamic State (IS) fighters launched an overnight attack on Iraqi security forces, killing or wounding six and leaving others unaccounted for in the town of Jalawla (Gulala), 150 miles northeast of Baghdad.

According to a security source who spoke to the press, Iraqi military posts were attacked by IS extremists late Wednesday near Osaj valley in Jalawala, is located in northwestern Diyala province.

Iraqi security forces were able to repel the attack with mortar fire, but two police officers were killed, four wounded, and three are still missing, said the source, adding that the situation was "under control."

On Wednesday, IS claimed responsibility in an online statement for an attack the previous night that killed at least 8 and wounded several more when gunmen opened fire on unarmed civilians in the town of Tarmiyah, 25 km north of Baghdad.

According to residents who have spoken to Kurdistan 24 correspondents in Diyala, IS activity has recently been increasing in the province.

In the past few weeks, the Iraqi army and Hashd al-Shaabi militias have launched a military campaign against IS extremists in villages located within the districts of Jalawla, Qaratapa, Jabara, and Sleman Beg, said Amanj Abdulrazaq, Head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Office in Jabara.

Many of these and other disputed territories were under the control of Kurdish Peshmerga forces until they were pushed from them in an Iraqi military campaign following the September independence referendum held by the Kurdistan Region.

Editing by John J. Catherine