Security

UPDATED: Thirteen killed, including Peshmerga, in new ISIS attacks southeast of Erbil

Ten members of the Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga forces were killed in an ambush and three civilians in a village southeast of Erbil that came under attack by ISIS militants.

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/12/03 09:58

A member of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces overlooking ISIL positions in Jalawla in Diyala province in 2014. (Photo: AFP)

Kurdistan Peshmerga ISIS Leheban Qarachokh Khidrjeeja

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Clashes involving ISIS members in the southeast of the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil late Thursday resulted in the killing of three villagers and ten Peshmerga, official sources said.

The incidents occurred in the Leheban and Khidrjeeja villages southeast of Erbil province, the Kurdistan Region Ministry of Peshmerga said on Friday.

Three villagers were killed as members of the community fended off an ISIS attack, one local source told Kurdistan 24.

Responding to the attack, ten Peshmerga were killed in an ambush on their way to the area, the ministry explained. It also called for "joint operations" with the Iraqi and Coalition forces to disrupt the surge in ISIS's activities.

The attack comes days after ISIS ramped up its hit-and-run attacks in the Kifri area in the Diyala province. Over three days, eight Peshmerga were killed in those assaults.