2 Iraqi policemen killed in attacks in Saladin, Diyala

BAGHDAD

Two Iraqi police officers were killed and five others injured in two separate attacks by the Daesh terrorist group, local military sources said Thursday.

“Late Wednesday night, Daesh militants staged a fierce attack on a checkpoint near the Alas oilfield in Saladin province north of Baghdad,” Captain Saad Mohamed of the army’s Saladin Operations Command, told Anadolu Agency.

According to Mohamed, one police officer was killed in the attack -- and four others injured -- while a number of Daesh terrorist were slain.

In Iraq’s eastern Diyala province, meanwhile, Daesh terrorists staged a rocket attack Wednesday evening in the Kanaan sub-district, leaving at least one civilian injured, Police Captain Habib al-Shimari told Anadolu Agency.

In mid-2014, Daesh 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 most if not all lost territories from the terrorist group.

Although officials in Baghdad say Daesh’s presence in the country has been largely eradicated, the group continues to carry out sporadic attacks in Iraq's Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, Saladin and Anbar provinces.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat