BAGHDAD (AP) – Iraqi airstrikes killed nine Daesh militants in retaliation for an attack by the terrorist group on Iraqi army barracks earlier this month, officials said Sunday.
Daesh gunmen in Iraq broke into a barracks in the mountainous al-Azim district outside the town of Baqouba on Jan. 21, killed a guard and shot dead 11 soldiers as they slept. It was one of the boldest attacks by the terrorists in recent weeks and came amid an uptick in violence that stoked fears the group has been re-energized.
Yehia Rasool, the spokesman for Iraq’s commander in chief, said the military operations room and the air force identified the cell behind the attack as its members hid in al-Azim, north of Baghdad.
Three airstrikes were launched that killed the nine militants, he said.
A security official told The Associated Press that four among the killed were Lebanese. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
Also Sunday, Iraqi anti-terrorism units carried out an inspection campaign in seven prisons in Iraq holding Daeeh terrorists. The campaign comes after a brazen prison attack Daesh terrorists carried out in northeastern Syria that lasted for over a week and in which an unknown number of suspects escaped, the anti-terrorism unit said in a statement.
Daesh was largely defeated in Iraq in 2017. The group was dealt a final blow in 2019 when it lost its last territory in southeast Syria during a campaign.
But thousands of militants melted into the desert and have continued to wage attacks, frequently hitting security forces and military with roadside bombs and firing on military convoys or checkpoints in both countries.