Six Hashd Sha’abi Fighters Martyred in Iraq
BAGHDAD (Xinhua) – Two fighters with Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) also known as Hashd Sha’abi have been martyred in an attack launched by Daesh terrorists in the north of Baghdad, while four others died in a traffic accident in western Iraq.
The two Hashd Sha’abi members were martyred when Daesh terrorists attacked their base in the rugged area of al-Eith in the eastern part of Salahudin province, the Hashd Sha’abi said in a statement.
Over the past few months, Iraqi security forces and Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters have carried out deadly attacks against militants and terrorist groups to crack down on their activities.
The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the Iraqi forces defeated the Daesh in 2017. However, Daesh remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
Also on Saturday, four Hashd Sha’abi members were killed and six others injured in a traffic accident near the town of Rutba, about 390 km west of Baghdad, Lt. Col. Mohammed al-Dulaimi, a police officer from Anbar province, told Xinhua.
According to al-Dulaimi, the accident occurred when a vehicle carrying Hashd Sha’abi members on vacation overturned on the highway near Rutba.
In another development, two soldiers were killed and two wounded Saturday while defusing a bomb in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala.
“Two soldiers of the engineering corps in the Iraqi army were killed and two others wounded while dismantling an explosive device planted on the outskirts of the town of Qara-Tappa, some 175 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad,” the town’s Mayor Wasfi al-Tamimi told Xinhua.