BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Iraqi forces have shot down a drone that was hovering over a prison in the center of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, reports say.
The drone was downed on Monday over al-Rasafa al-Tasfirat prison, in which notorious criminals are incarcerated.
Iraqi media outlets cited a security source as saying that the drone was confiscated for examination.
The source noted that the drone was free of explosives, raising the speculation that it was a spy drone.
Separately, security forces have been on high alert in an area of Iraq’s Diyala province after a Daesh attack, Baghdad Today cited an informed source as saying on Monday.
According to the source, Daesh snipers targeted a unit guarding a Thermographic camera in al-Hashemiat area, 12 kilometers northwest of Baqubah City, partially damaging the device.
The attack was the first of its kind in the area, which tends to be relatively stable, in the past eight months.
The source noted that locals joined the Iraqi forces in the manhunt for the terrorists who managed to flee.
The incidents come a day after Baghdad announced that 14 Daesh terrorists, including senior commanders, were arrested in Baghdad.
The Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) announced in a statement that it had arrested 14 people responsible for planning and carrying out attacks during a large-scale operation in Baghdad.
According to the intelligence service, the detainees include senior Daesh commanders, namely Abu Safana, Abu Omar, and Abu Musab, who were arrested during several ambushes.
The development came shortly after Sabereen News, a Telegram news channel associated with the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), reported that a Daesh attack on al-‘Abarah al-Sadraniyah village in Diyala had left five civilians, including three children, dead and six others wounded.
Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.
Iraq declared victory over the terrorist group in December 2017 after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign, in which the PMU, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Sha’abi, also played a major role.
However, Daesh’s remnants keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash fresh violence in the Arab country.