ISIS attack Hashd in deadly ambush near Makhmour, killing 6

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Six fighters from the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitias were killed and 31 injured in an Islamic State (ISIS) ambush in Makhmour on Wednesday, the Iraqi Defense Ministry confirmed.

"Hashd al-Shaabi forces were attacked by ISIS fighters Wednesday evening near Mosul city,” Ali Husseini, spokesperson for the paramilitary’s northern branch, told Rudaw. 

The Hashd fighters were traveling in a bus on their way from Mosul to Kirkuk. 

Those injured are being treated in hospital. 

Sirwan Barzani, commander of the Gwer-Makhmour front, told Rudaw the situation in Makhmour is “calm” and that the Peshmerga has opened the road to Hashd to allow them access to Erbil’s hospitals.

Between 14,000 and 18,000 ISIS militants are estimated to still be operating in Iraq and Syria, despite military victories on both sides of the border. Iraq declared the group defeated in 2017. In Syria, the militants are corralled into a tent camp near Baghouz.

In Iraq, they frequently carry out attacks against security forces and civilians, especially in security vacuums between Kurdish and Iraq forces. 

The ambush on Wednesday happened in a mountainous area between Makhmour and Dubiz. The terrain makes it “even more difficult to reclaim the region from ISIS,” said Husseini. 


Funerals for the Hashd al-Shaabi fighters killed on Wednesday were held in Tuz Khurmatu on Thursday. Photo: Hashd al-Shaabi media office

Some of those killed are Turkmen and Turkey's foreign ministry issued a statement of condolence on their deaths. 

The first deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament slammed “lax” security that allowed the ambush to happen. 

The attack “raises many questions about the absence of intelligence efforts and the lax security role in a number of areas where terrorist cells are active,” said Hassan Kareem al-Kaabi in a statement.

He criticized the practice of transporting Hashd members without taking security precautions and resulting in the “waste of lives.”

ISIS remains a threat and security forces have the “maximum degree of alertness… at all times,” he said. 

The Hashd have dispatched reinforcements to secure the area, according to spokesperson Husseini. 

"We do not know the exact number of the ISIS militants who had ambushed our force," he said.

ISIS is known to be a threat in the Makhmour area.

The Hashd’s media office said the attack will not deter them or Iraqi forces from “chasing the terrorist cells, eradicating the remnants, and cleansing the territories of the country from their filth and criminality.”

Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has ordered an investigation into the attack.

Updated at 9:14 pm