ERBIL — The militants of Islamic State (IS) carried out two separate attacks on the Iraqi army on Wednesday in the province of Diyala, leaving one soldier killed and five others wounded, a source revealed.
The first incident reportedly took place on the outskirts of Khanaqin, northeast of Diyala, where the IS insurgents targeted a security outpost of the Iraqi army with snipers and medium combat weapons, killing one soldier and wounding another.
A vehicle of the army, which was heading towards the scene to assist the forces against the jihadists, was hit by a roadside bomb explosion, a source explained to Shafaq News, noting that it wounded four other soldiers.
Moreover, the Iraqi police forces managed to thwart an IS attack on one of the security outposts in Baqubah, Diyala province, a source said in a statement, pointing out that the IS snipers attempted to target the Iraqi soldiers stationed at the outpost in Buhriz district, eight kilometers south of Baquba.
This comes as the Islamic State has begun to reorganize itself in the areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad where a security vacuum is seen. Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga Ministry has recently reached a final agreement with Iraq's Defense Ministry to form joint brigades for military cooperation in the disputed territories.
Over the past two weeks alone, nearly 20 Iraqi soldiers have been killed and several more have been wounded in attacks conducted by the jihadist group in different areas of Iraq.