Iraq in mourning after deadly new Daesh attack north of Baghdad

Iraq’s Salahaddin province declared three days of mourning from Sunday over a deadly attack blamed on Daesh, as some criticized authorities for failing to fight back militants. Late Saturday, a roadside bomb hit a civilian car on an open road near Mt. Makhoul, about 200 km north of Baghdad, police and a local official said.

When security forces arrived at the scene, militants opened fire on them, police said.

The attack killed at least six Iraqi security personnel and four civilians, including one who died of his wounds overnight, according to local medics.

There was no claim by Daesh, but both the local mayor and police blamed the group, which Iraq’s government said in late 2017 it had defeated.

That victory came after three years of brutal fighting to wrench back the one-third of Iraqi territory that had been captured by Daesh.

Although the militants no longer hold territory, sleeper cells wage hit-and-run attacks on state infrastructure, particularly in desert areas north of the capital.

Two weeks ago, 11 people were killed in a Daesh attack on a lookout post at Al-Radwaniyah on Baghdad’s outskirts.

According to a study published this month by the International Center for Counter-Terrorism in the Hague, the extremist group has claimed more attacks in Iraq than in any other country where it is active over the period December 2018 to May this year.

The study said that Daesh activity in Iraq “accelerated precipitously from February 2020 onwards,” reaching levels that are “worryingly close” to those preceding its sweep across a third of Iraq in 2014.