Three Iraqi soldiers killed by a roadside bomb

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A roadside bomb killed at least three Iraqi soldiers on Wednesday north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the country’s defense ministry announced.

The soldiers were on duty when the explosion took place in the Tarmiyah district, 30 kilometers (20 miles) outside Baghdad.

Along with two other soldiers, a lieutenant colonel was among the killed, the ministry said.

Three other soldiers were wounded by the bombing, another security statement read.

The area is known as a safe haven for ISIS remnants due to its dense palm groves and orchards that is believed to serve as the militants’ hideout.  

Although Iraqi forces announced the defeat of ISIS in 2017, the terror group still launches low-level insurgency against both security and civilian targets.

To stem any insurgency, Iraqi security forces regularly conduct airstrikes on suspected ISIS hideouts, particularly in the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad, where members of the group easily operate due to the “security vacuum” created by the absence of Kurdish and Iraqi cooperation, security experts and officials say.

In a sweeping offensive, the group seized a third of the country in 2014 before its attacks were repelled by Kurdish Peshmerga and other Iraqi security forces with the logistical and air support of the US-led international coalition.

According to a United Nations report released earlier this year, ISIS still has a covert network of 6,000 to 10,000 fighters on both sides of the porous Syrian and Iraqi border.