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Salahuddin: now that ISIS is winding down, it’s time to deal with those uppity Kurds
22 people killed, injured in Salahuddin mortar attackSalahuddin (Iraqinews.com) About 22 people were killed and injured in a mortar attack on Tuz Khurmatu city east of Salahuddin province, a lawmaker said on Tuesday. “Five mortar shells were fired from a Kurdish-controlled mountainous area towards Tuz Khurmatu city, leaving two people dead and 20 others injured,” MP Jassem Mohammed Jaafar told Alsumaria News. “One of the mortar shells fell on a secondary school in the city,” he said, adding that the attack caused damage to several buildings. Jaafar expected demonstrators to take to streets later in the day to call on Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to protect them from the Kurdish attacks. Three Islamic State militants killed, attack foiled in Salahuddin Salahuddin/Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi troops and tribal fighters killed three Islamic State members in a raid and foiled another attack by the militants in Salahuddin province on Tuesday. The Iraqi military intelligence directorate said in a statement, quoted by Shafaq News, said intelligence services in Salahuddin, backed by Popular Mobilization Forces and Tribal Mobilization chased four IS members in an island at the center of the Tigris River. Forces engaged with the militants at the town of Shirqat, killing three, while the fourth blew himself up. In a separate incident, Alsumaria News quoted Abdul-Khaleq al-Ezzawi, a member of Diyala province council, saying that a joint security force foiled a sneaking attempt by IS members inside Al-Bou Essia village, on the borders between Diyala and Salahuddin. He said the force chased the militants, some of whom escaped to Mutaibiha region, a former IS militancy hotbed. Mobilization forces plan offensive on separatist groups in Turkmen ares Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces are planning an offensive against mainly Kurdish separatist groups in Salahuddin province’s restive region of Tuz Khurmatu. PMF media quoted on Tuesday Abu Reda al-Najjar, commander of the “northern axis” of the force’s operations, saying an operation is imminent to “clear the mountains overlooking Turkmen villages in Tuz Khurmatu”. “Turkmen villages in the precinct occasionally witness attacks, most recently an attack with eight mortar shells this morning, which left a civilian dead and others wounded,” Najjar said. According to the commander, the operation is particularly targeting the “White Flags”, a nascent entity composed of a number of separatist groups, most notably the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), a militia fighting for Iranian Kurds’ independence. “Security authorities possess precise information about those groups,” he explained. “Our forces have started to bombard separatists’ locations with rocket launchers, making direct hits as a first step before the launch of operations to the areas from which they target civilians,” Najjar stated. Posted by: trailing wife 2017-12-13 |
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