Daesh/ISIS terror attack in Iraq kills 7 Peshmerga fighters, 3 civilians

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AA) - Seven Peshmerga soldiers of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) were killed in northern Iraq, along with three civilians in an attack by the Daesh/ISIS terror group, according to the Peshmerga Ministry on Friday.

"A group of Daesh/ISIS elements attacked late Thursday evening the village of Khadirjija at the foot of Mount Qarachokh, in Makhmour District of Nineveh Governorate, located 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Erbil," the ministry said in a statement.

It noted that the armed attack had initially killed three civilians, while the seven Peshmerga forces were killed by an explosive device planted by Daesh/ISIS during confrontations with the terrorist group in retaliation for the civilians' deaths.

On Thursday evening, a source in the Peshmerga forces told Anadolu Agency that the attack on the village of Khadirjija had killed three sons of the village's chief.

Last Saturday, Daesh/ISIS militants launched an armed attack on a Peshmerga post in the Koljo district of the Garmyan administration in the KRG, killing six people.

Attacks blamed on Daesh/ISIS fighters have escalated in Iraq in recent months, especially in the provinces of Salahuddin, Diyala, and Kirkuk.

In 2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh/ISIS by reclaiming all of its territories -- about a third of the country's area -- invaded by the terror group in 2014.

But the terrorist group still maintains sleeper cells in large areas of Iraq and periodically launches attacks. The Iraqi army continues to carry out frequent operations against the group in parts of the country.

* Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar