Iraqi security plan launched to block Islamic State’s pathways between Diyala and Saladin

A government official in Diyala announced launching a joint security campaign to close down ISIS’s infiltration pathways between Diyala and Saladin, northwest of al-Azim district, and to return families who fled the threat of ISIS.

The director of Al-Azim district, Abdul-Jabbar Al-Obaidi, told Shafaq News Agency that a high-level military delegation conducted a field inspection and a comprehensive survey of Al-Azim areas bordering Saladin, to close the strip separating the two governorates, and block ISIS pathways towards agricultural villages.

Al-Obaidi explained that military forces and forces from al-Hashd al-Shaabi will address the security gaps at the al-Azeem border with Saladin in the al-Abou Bakr village belt, to prevent the displacement of families threatened by ISIS and return those that previously fled to escape terrorist attacks.

The government official denied recording new displacement cases at the Diyala Saladin border, except for eight families who were displaced earlier due to a terrorist attack that resulted in more than ten causalities.

The border areas between Diyala and Saladin from the al-Azim side, 60 km north of Baquba, are among the most dangerous ISIS strongholds. They represent a transit point linking the Hamrin Basin, north of Diyala, and the Saladin border.

Source: Shafaq News