Islamic State kills three tribal fighters north of Baghdad

The Iraqi military announced on Saturday that the Islamic State launched an attack 30 km north of Baghdad the night before, killing three local tribal fighters.

The Security Media Cell said in a statement that the three were killed “with direct fire by ISIS terrorist gangs in the Hour al-Basha region, north of the capital, Baghdad.”

“Security forces are conducting a search operation to locate the militants who carried out this terrorist act,” it added.

No further details regarding the attack or the identity of the victims were provided.

On Wednesday, anti-terror forces, backed by the international anti-ISIS coalition, killed 39 members of the Islamic State in clashes in northern parts of Salahuddin Province.

The operation comes as the terrorist organization continues to carry out insurgency-style attacks, often in and near territories of disputed claim between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal Iraqi government.

In recent months, the group has increasingly relied on kidnapping civilians from rural parts of these areas and holding them for ransom, fueling security concerns among local residents. In the third reported case in recent weeks, suspected Islamic State militants released two Kurds from Kirkuk in exchange for $80,000 paid by family members.

Iraqi military forces launched operations in early February outside of Kirkuk, clashing with Islamic State sleeper cells in the Khanoka Mountains located about 100 kilometers north of the city of Tikrit near the Tigris River, read an earlier statement from the Security Media Cell.

Source: Kurdistan 24