Daesh militants killed at least 10 Iraqi
militiamen in a coordinated assault overnight near the central city of
Samarra, security officials said Saturday, adding to concerns the
terrorist group that once controlled large areas of the country is
staging a comeback.
The military and the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group
of mostly Shiite militias allied with the government, confirmed the
attack in separate statements. It was the deadliest of a series of
attacks in recent weeks that come as authorities are grappling with a
worsening economic crisis and trying to contain a coronavirus outbreak.
Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December 2017 after a costly
three-year campaign. At its height, the group controlled around a third
of Iraq and neighboring Syria.
In recent months, remnants of Daesh have exploited security gaps
resulting from a territorial dispute between Iraq's central government
and the autonomous Kurdish region in the north, as well as the
withdrawal of United States forces in a planned drawdown.
Last week a suicide bomber targeted an intelligence office in the
northern city of Kirkuk, wounding at least three security forces in the
first such attack in months.
The PMF said six of its fighters were killed by direct fire late
Friday in the village of Mekeeshfa, south of Tikrit. Another three
fighters were killed by a roadside bomb as reinforcements were called
in. A 10th militiaman was shot dead in the nearby village of Tal
al-Dahab.
The coordinated attack occurred around 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of the capital, Baghdad.
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