ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – ISIS militants attacked Iraqi police in Jalawla (Gulala) town late on Wednesday night resulting in at least two deaths and seven injuries among police ranks, according to a local medical source. “The injured were affected by fragments from mortars and bullets. The two killed were hit in the chest with bullets,” a Rudaw source from Jalawla emergency hospital added. Major Smko Ali, head of Kokse Asayesh in Kifri, told Rudaw that ISIS militants had attacked Iraqi police with mortars. He said the terrorist group attacked a police checkpoint on Jalawla’s main bridge from two directions. He did not give any figures on casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed Mustafa from the Iraqi Army third brigade’s intelligence unit told Rudaw that ISIS militants had entered Jalawla on boats. Mustafa said there are currently no Iraqi forces in Tabaj or on Halwan bridge in Salab, paving the way for ISIS to conduct such operations. ISIS took control of Jalawla town on August 8, 2014. It was soon liberated by Peshmerga forces on November 2014. Jalawla is located near Khanaqin city in Diyala province. It fell under Iraqi Army control during Baghdad’s offensive on the disputed territories last October. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS in Iraq in December 2017.
