Daesh kills 12 policemen in Iraq's Saladin province

By Haydar Hadi and Ali Mukarrem Garip

SALADIN (AA) – At least 12 police officers, including a commander, were killed overnight in clashes with the Daesh terrorist group in Iraq’s Saladin province north of Baghdad, a police source told Anadolu Agency on Friday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media, the source said a bomb attack had occurred in Saladin’s Turkmen district of Amirli, killing seven police officers, including a Turkmen police captain, while four policemen were killed in separate attacks on checkpoints in the same area.

Additionally, Shelal Abdul, the mayor of Saladin’s town of Tuz Khurmatu, told Anadolu Agency that fierce clashes had erupted after Daesh militants killed a police chief and injured five policemen while trying to enter areas controlled by Shia militia.

Iraq has suffered from a devastating security vacuum since mid-2014, when Daesh overran large swathes of territory in the northern and western parts of the country.

*Anadolu Agency correspondent Ahmet Sait Akcay contributed to this report from Ankara