BAGHDAD

Four soldiers were killed and a number of others were injured in an attack by Daesh gunmen in Al-Tarmiyah, a Sunni-majority district north of capital Baghdad, a local security source said Tuesday.

Baghdad Police Captain Ahmad Khalaf told Anadolu Agency that a vehicle affiliated with the army’s 59th Brigade struck a roadside bomb late Monday night while on patrol in the district, injuring several soldiers.

“When reinforcements arrived to evacuate the wounded, gunmen opened fire on them from a nearby orchard, leaving four soldiers dead and several more injured,” Khalaf said.

Four Daesh terrorists, he said, were also killed in the exchange.

In mid-2014, the Daesh terrorist group overran roughly one-third of Iraq, including the northern city of Mosul.

By late 2017, the Iraqi army, with the help of a U.S.-led military coalition, had managed to recover almost all lost territory from the notorious terror group.

Although officials in Baghdad say Daesh’s presence in Iraq has been all but eradicated, the group continues to carry out sporadic attacks, especially in northern and western parts of the country.