ISIS militants ambushed a house near Miqdadiyah district in Diyala province late Tuesday, killing 11 people, governor Muthanna al-Tamimi told Rudaw. The death toll rose to 15 deaths and 17 injured on Wednesday.
ISIS said on its propaganda channel on Telegram late Wednesday that it had attacked Shiite militants in the district, killing 15 and injuring 20 others.
The attack was widely condemned by Iraqi and Kurdish leaders as well as foreign missions in the country.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) called on the Iraqi authorities in a statement “to fully investigate the attacks and exert every effort to ensure the safety and security of all citizens.”
The European Union delegation in Iraq also expressed its condolences to the families of the victims in a tweet on Wednesday, adding that the EU “condemns such violence targeting innocent people.”
ISIS seized control of swathes of land in Iraq 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. ISIS remnants are particularly active in parts of northern Iraq that are disputed by Erbil and Baghdad, including in the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala and Salahaddin.
In the latest edition of its weekly propaganda newspaper al-Naba, ISIS claimed it conducted 11 attacks in Iraq last week, killing and injuring 26 people.
