Iraq
Iraqi forces search for Islamic State group (ISIS) suspects in the Tarmiyah district, north of Baghdad on July 21, 2019. File photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — At least four members of Iraq’s security forces were killed on Saturday in an explosion north of Baghdad, the military’s security media cell said.
An improvised explosive device (IED) blew up near a vehicle belonging to the army’s 59th brigade in Tarmiyah district north of Baghdad, killing four, according to the military’s statement.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but a security source blamed the Islamic State group (ISIS). "ISIS fighters attacked an Iraqi army convoy at night and killed two officers and two soldiers," a security official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In the same Tarmiyah area in February, clashes between Iraqi forces and ISIS left at least six Iraqi force members dead.
ISIS militants continue to wreak havoc in both Iraq and Syria, even after they were territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017 and in Syria in March 2019.
The militants were also blamed for a second deadly attack on Saturday, this one against the Peshmerga in Kirkuk province. Three Peshmerga fighters were killed and two were injured on the Kirkuk-Erbil road close to the village of Qaya Bashi, near the town of Prde (Altun Kupri).
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Saturday called for the establishment of a joint armed force made up of Peshmerga and Iraqi army in disputed areas along the borders between the federal and regional territory where ISIS militants have taken shelter, taking advantage of a security vacuum.
Political and military delegations from Erbil and Baghdad have held scores of meetings to curb the movements of ISIS in these regions between their forces, but have not reached any concrete results.
President of Iraq Barham Salih on Saturday called for unity to support Iraqi armed forces to “eradicate terror across the region.”
In its weekly al-Naba propaganda newspaper released on Thursday, ISIS claimed it had carried out 38 operations across Iraq between April 21 and 28, killing and injuring 74 people.
At least 20 people were killed and injured in a car bombing that ISIS claimed responsibility for on April 16 in Baghdad’s Sadr City.
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