Four Iraqi soldiers killed, wounded fighting IS in Diyala
An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by the Islamic State (IS) on Sunday detonated among a group of Hashd al-Shaabi forces in the town of Qaratapah in Diyala Province.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by the Islamic State (IS) on Sunday detonated among a group of Hashd al-Shaabi forces in the town of Qaratapah in Diyala Province.
The security of Qaratapah told Kurdistan24 the booby-trap killed a soldier from the Hashd al-Shaabi forces, known as the Popular Mobilization Units, and injured three more troops.
The security source also mentioned the soldier killed was the brother of a senior leader of the Hashd al-Shaabi forces.
“Da’esh militants have attacked Kokjali village in southern Qaratapah and took 400 goats and sheep,” the unnamed source added, using the Arabic acronym for the insurgent group.
Regarding the casualties from the extremist group, the source said some of the militants were injured, but the number was unknown.
Despite the group losing its control in Iraq, IS occasionally conducts attacks on some cities in the country, especially in Baghdad and Anbar Provinces.
Additionally, Iraqi security forces continue to push the insurgents back from Mosul in the north of the country.
On Oct. 17, 2016, Peshmerga and Iraqi forces launched the military operation to retake Mosul, the second-largest city in the country, from the militant group who had occupied it since June 2014.
So far, the security forces have liberated large swaths of territory in Nineveh Province, including the east and north of Mosul.
Iraqi troops are beginning preparations to free the western side of the city from IS which military experts believe will be more challenging due to geographical reasons.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
(Harem Jaff contributed to this report)