Five civilians chasing militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ISIS for abducting two farmers were killed in an ambush north east of Baghdad.
The military and security forces have not interfered when a group of the extremist militants of IS abducted four locals in the village of Bina Bakh of Jalawla sub-district of Khanaqin district in Diyala province, north east of Baghdad on July 4th.
“Six militants of Daesh abducted two farmers and two teenagers so the militants freed the teenagers and took the two farmers,” an eye witness anonymously told KirkukNow.
The 33 villages of Sheikh Bawa region ae all close relatives so they meet and decide to chase the militants to free the kidnaped.
“In the village of Oyoun Khashlan, they said the militants headed to Saif Sa’ad,” he added.
“There, the villagers step into an ambush by Daesh militants and fighting erupts. Five relatives of the abducted are killed when militants open fire and kill two villagers while others die in a vehicle burnt in the fire exchange,” the eye-witness added.
Two of the victims are brothers and are close relatives to the others.
IS militants are regrouping in the rural areas of the disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil. They are targeting Iraqi forces and civilians in the suburbs of Diyla, Kirkuk Ninawa and Erbil, leaving tens of casualties and causing material damage to houses, cattle, orchards and vehicles of the villagers.
In retaliation, a wide range of operations are launched in the disputed territories have failed to put an end to the escalating threats. End of May, the Iraqi security forces have launched a joint operation to sweep riversides of Alwand river in Kahanqin, north west of Baghdad, targeting hideouts for remnants of the Islamic State ISIS.
The operation followed a 7-week campaign covered the river of Sirwan and the surrounding areas of Jalawla subdistrict, particularly the village of Islah, a safe haven for IS militants. 7,000 donums of agricultural lands and orchards were dried in the campaign in order to leave no chance for the extremist Jihadists to take shelter there.
The disputed territories extend from Khanaqin in the east on the border with Iran to the oil rich city of Kirkuk heading to the west of Mosul in Shingal, home to Ezidi ethno-religious minority, on the border with Syria.
Diyala, March 2021- A member of the Iraqi forces in an operation to eradicate IS militants in Khanaqin district of Diyala province.
The villagers told KirkukNow they have contacted the military and security forces whom were not ready to track the militants.
Unit 20 of Iraqi army is deployed in the region. KikukNow could not communicate to the Iraqi army or security officers in the region.
The kidnapped farmers escaped the militants amid the fierce clashes, a security source told KirkukNow on the condition of anonymity.
The farmers were in their farms when the militants captured them, and the farms are close to the village.
IS militants controlled Jalawla in mid-2014, but the Peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) took over the town end of 2014. KirkukNow follow-ups indicate that a total of 4,000 houses and other civilian properties were destroyed during the confrontations with IS.
Currently, local police is taking over security responsibility in the center of Jalawla, while the Iraqi army forces and the Popular Mobilization Forces PMF or (al-Hashd al-Sha’bi) are stationed in the outskirts.
