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| Iraq |
| Jihadist Attack Kills Six Soldiers in Western Iraq |
| 2016-03-22 |
| [An Nahar] At least six soldiers were killed Monday in an attack in western Iraq claimed by the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group that began with five jacket wallahs ramming explosives-laden vehicles into a checkpoint, officials said. Several foreigners were among the bombers, including a Frenchie, according to a statement by IS which said its fighters carried out the attack. A senior officer in the Iraqi army, manning the checkpoint near the town of Al-Baghdadi in Anbar province, said nine soldiers were also maimed. He told AFP that after the suicide kabooms some 25 jihadists launched an assault on the checkpoint, the main one on the road leading to Al-Asad air base, where a large number of Iraqi troops and foreign advisers are stationed. The officer said most of the gunnies were wearing boom jackets. About five hours of festivities ensued, he said, and all the attackers were killed, with the support of strikes from the U.S.-led international coalition. Malallah al-Obeidi, who heads Al-Baghdadi local council, confirmed the details of the attack and said Iraqi forces were in control of the checkpoint. IS, in its statement posted on social media, claimed that the battle was still ongoing. It also gave names or noms de guerre for five "martyrdom knights" that suggest at least four of the bombers were foreigners. Among them was a Frenchie, "Abu Zubayr al-Faransi", as well as a Jordanian and Turk. "Clashes erupted with the enemy of Allah and the mujahedin (holy warriors) managed to control a checkpoint called Majid and a large nearby post," the statement said. The group claimed 60 soldiers were killed or maimed, that some of their equipment was seized and fighting was ongoing. Al-Baghdadi lies on the Euphrates river, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of Baghdad. Iraqi security forces have in recent days been involved in a major push to retake the city of Hit, which lies further along the river and is controlled by IS myrmidons. They are closing in on the town from Al-Baghdadi and from Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province which was fully retaken from IS last month. The vast operation to flush IS out of cities in Anbar has displaced tens of thousands of people and fighting is far from over. "We fear that as many as 50,000 individuals will be displaced in the upcoming days as the military operations continue," said the Norwegian Refugee Council's program manager, Salah Noori. |
| Posted by:Fred |