ISIS kills five Iraqi soldiers in Diyala, says local official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A suspected Islamic State (ISIS) attack in Diyala province late Tuesday killed five soldiers of the Iraqi army, a local official told Rudaw amid a recent uptick in attacks by the terror group.

The five soldiers of the Iraqi army were killed by an ISIS sniper attack near Kashkul village nearby Hamrin dam, local security head Shamal Abdulrahman told Rudaw’s Hunar Hamid.

The attack coincides with a visit by a Peshmerga ministry delegation headed by Minister Shorsh Ismail to the US to discuss "the continuing threat of ISIS," claiming the terror group remains "a serious threat to regional security and stability." 

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani last week warned of the recent increase of ISIS attacks after a spate of assaults killed nine people across four provinces overnight. 

Another ISIS attack in Diyala left five civilians dead and three others wounded, with the victims all being from the same family. 

ISIS controlled vast lands in Iraq in 2014, but the terror group became fully devoid of territorial control in 2017. While the group lacks any territory, it still continues to pose security risks through abductions, hit-and-run attacks, and bombings.

In its propaganda magazine on Thursday, ISIS claimed to have conducted 13 attacks in Iraq from July 21 to July 27, killing and injuring 30 people.