Iraqi federal police members killed in ISIS attack in Salahaddin

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iraqi security delegation arrived in Salahaddin on Wednesday following a bloody Islamic State (ISIS) attack that left at least six members of the Iraqi federal police dead and several others injured.

A Tuesday attack targeting Matibija district left at least six members of the Iraqi federal police dead and injured seven others, Kawa Shekhani, security advisor to Salahaddin governor told Rudaw the day after.

A high-level security delegation arrived at the scene to investigate the incident, Iraqi Security Media Cell reported.

ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.

Labeled “The Emirate of Evil,” Matibija district is considered a stronghold of ISIS militants and one of their most dangerous outposts. 

Two Iraqi soldiers were killed in ISIS clashes in Salahaddin in May. 

The recent incident comes hours after the Iraqi army and Peshmerga forces launched a new joint operation to eliminate ISIS sleeper cells in Makhmour’s Mount Qarachogh. 

One ISIS member was killed in the operation, the media cell said on Wednesday. 

In its propaganda magazine on Thursday, ISIS claimed to have conducted four attacks in Iraq from July 7 to July 13, killing and injuring six people.

Updated at 7:09pm