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36 killed in attacks and clashes with IS militants in Iraq's Diyala

Xinhua, January 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

A total of 36 people were killed in attacks and clashes with the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala on Wednesday, security sources said.

Heavy clashes erupted when Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias attacked IS militants hiding in Himreen mountainous area in northeast of Baquba, Diyala's provincial capital, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, leaving at least 20 IS militants killed, Lieutenant General Jamil al-Shimary, the provincial police chief, told Xinhua.

The military operation in Himreen based on intelligence reports said that dozens of IS militants were hiding in caves and narrow valleys after they were driven away from the villages of Mansouriyah area in northeast of Baquba that were freed from the extremist militants by the security major offensives recently, al-Shimary said.

Separately, the security forces and Shiite militias repelled an attack in the early hours of the day by the IS militants on the dam in Udhaim area, some 80 km north of Baquba, leaving at least nine IS militants killed, including two suicide bombers, head of the security committee of the provincial council Sadiq al-Husseini told Xinhua.

A soldier and two Shiite militiamen were killed, along with wounding three soldiers and three militiamen, al-Husseini said.

Also in the province, two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests were shot dead in north of Baquba, while a police officer and a policeman were killed and two others wounded when a booby-trapped house in Shirween area in northeast of Baquba detonated when the police forces entered during a search operation, a provincial police source told Xinhua.

Diyala's attacks came two days after al-Shimary and Hadi al-Ameri, a leading figure in the powerful Shiite party Badr Organization confirmed that the whole province is now freeed from IS militants.

However, Ameri said that "individuals from IS militants are now separately hiding in some orchards and hideouts, but they will be hunted down by the security forces."

On Friday, thousands of Iraqi army, police and Shiite militias backed by Iraqi aircraft launched a major offensive with the aim of ending the presence of extremist militants in the country's province of Diyala. Endit