ISIS Carries out Attacks in 3 Iraqi Governorates

Arab World

August 1st, 8:36am

Baghdad – Asharq Al-Awsat

Security forces in Iraq. (AFP file photo)

Over the last two days, ISIS has dealt several blows to security in Iraq by carrying out attacks in the provinces of Salaheddine, Anbar and Diyala. In Salaheddine’s Yathrib district, the terror group attacked a funeral procession, killing and injuring dozens. The latest tally put the dead at 14 and 20 wounded. ISIS first used snipers to take out security checkpoints established to protect the service and then used machine guns to attack the mourners. Several Baghdad judges attended the memorial service held for a child who had drowned, but they had left the scene shortly before ISIS attacked. Wild orchards covering Yathrib’s outskirts have made the terrain there into an ideal hideout for ISIS terrorists. For the last few years, Yathrib’s residents were subjugated to far-reaching displacement. However, with some locals returning home, district authorities insist on stepping up security to protect returnees. They are demanding that 300 locals volunteer to enlist into security taskforces. On Saturday, in the western Anbar province, three family members were killed when ISIS gunmen broke into their home in the district of Heet. “Unidentified gunmen in military uniform attacked with silenced weapons the house of a citizen,” a statement by the local Al-Jazira command center revealed, adding that a father and his two children were killed. According to the statement, one of the children was drafted into one of Iraq’s security services. Moreover, ISIS militants launched an attack on military barracks in the eastern Diyala province, killing three and wounding four civilians, an Iraqi security source revealed. Amid these attacks, fears are growing that the terror group would exploit political turmoil ahead of the October elections to step up their assaults.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3109351/isis-carries-out-attacks-3-iraqi-governorates