Islamic State attack in Iraq’s disputed Khanaqin city results with 11 casualties

Islamic State militants targeted Iraqi military forces in the disputed Khanaqin district on Monday, killing four Iraqi soldiers and injuring seven more.

A local official from Khanaqin’s Qaratapa sub-district told Kurdistan 24: “the Iraqi forces were ambushed as they were assessing the damage following Iraqi airstrikes on Islamic State hideouts near Hamrin Lake.”

“The ambush resulted in the death of four soldiers and injuring seven others. Another four are missing,” explained the source, adding that injured soldiers were being treated in the Qaratapa Hospital before being transferred to Baqubah city hospital in Diyala.

Khanaqin is a disputed territory between Baghdad and Erbil with a predominantly Kurdish population, located in the province of Diyala.

Over the past two years, the number of kidnappings and terrorist activities in disputed and liberated areas has dramatically increased. The security situation deteriorated since the attack and military takeover of disputed regions by Iraqi forces and the Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias.

Although Iraq declared a military defeat against the Islamic State in December 2017, the terrorist group remains active in many areas liberated from its former rule and even places it never controlled, such as the nation’s capital of Baghdad.

Source: Kurdistan 24