3 Hashd fighters killed, 5 injured northern Iraq

SALAHUDDIN, Iraq

Gunmen ambushed a group of Hashd al-Shaabi fighters in the district of Tuz Khurmatu in Iraq's northern Saladin province, leaving three dead, according to a local police officer.

The Daesh/ISIS attack, which targeted a Hashd al-Shaabi position near a military airport in the northwest of Tuz Khurmatu district, left five Hashd al-Shaabi fighters injured, Tuz Khurmatu police chief Hussein Ali told Anadolu Agency.

Security forces have launched an operation against the terrorists in the region following the attack, Ali said.

A predominantly Shia fighting force, Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi was drawn up in 2014 with the purpose of fighting Daesh/ISIS. In 2017, it was formally incorporated into the Iraqi army.

In late 2017, officials in Baghdad declared that military presence of Daesh/ISIS in Iraq had been all but destroyed.

But Daesh/ISIS terrorists still have presence in the rural areas of Anbar, Diyala, Kirkuk, Saladin, and Mosul.

The Iraqi army continues to carry out frequent operations against the group’s lingering presence in these parts of the country.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara