ALBAWABA - Security sources told Reuters that an Iraqi commanding officer and four soldiers were killed and five others injured on Monday in a suspected ISIS attack.
The attack occurred between Diyala and Salahuddin provinces. This rural area has remained a hub of ISIS activity for years after Iraq declared total victory over the extremist organization in 2017.
Iraq's defense ministry published a statement lamenting the deaths of a colonel and "a number of heroic fighters of the regiment as a result of their response to a terrorist attack".
Security forces repulsed the attack, but many people were killed as a result, according to the statement. Iraq has seen relative security stability in recent years, following the chaos of the 2003 US-led invasion and years of violent sectarian conflict.
Baghdad now intends to withdraw the US-led international coalition that helped fight Islamic State and remain in the country in an advisory capacity, claiming that local security forces can handle the threat themselves.
