Suicide attack kills 6 tribal fighters north of Baghdad

By Hussein al-Amir

BAGHDAD

Six Sunni tribal fighters (Hashd al-Ashaeri) were killed Wednesday, and another 30 people injured, in a suicide attack in Iraq’s Saladin province north of Baghdad, according to a local police source.

“A suicide bomber detonated his explosive device at a checkpoint manned by [pro-government] Hashd al-Ashaeri fighters… in the town of Shirqat north of provincial capital Tikrit,” Police Lieutenant Salahuddin al-Jabouri told Anadolu Agency.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, al-Jabouri pointed the finger at the Daesh terrorist group.

Last year, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but destroyed following three years of conflict with the Iraqi army and a U.S.-led international coalition.

The notorious terrorist group, however, still appears to maintain a limited presence in certain parts of the country.