After a three-year struggle, Iraq declared ISIS defeated in 2017 (Representation)
Baghdad:
An attack by an Islamic State group on a viewpoint west of Baghdad, held by a state-sponsored tribal force, left 11 people dead on Sunday evening, security sources and officials told AFP. doctors.
The attackers threw grenades and fired at Hashed tribal forces stationed in Al-Radwaniyah, on the southern outskirts of the Iraqi capital, near Baghdad airport.
“IS attacked the watchtower, killing five members of the Hashed tribe and six local people who had come to help repel the attack,” a security source said.
A doctor confirmed the toll to AFP and said eight wounded had been transferred to a hospital in central Baghdad.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from ISIS.
IS swept through a third of Iraq in 2014, seizing major cities in the north and west and reaching the outskirts of the capital Baghdad.
After a three-year bitter struggle backed by the US-led coalition, Iraq declared ISIS defeated in late 2017.
The coalition has significantly reduced its troops this year, regrouping them at three main bases in Baghdad, Ain al-Asad in the west and Arbil in the north.
But ISIS sleeper cells have continued to carry out hit and run attacks on state security forces and infrastructure, especially in desert areas where troops are depleted.
Attacks with such high tolls and so close to the capital have, however, been rare.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
