ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Several Islamic State gunmen attacked a village north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad late Thursday night, killing two brothers, wounding a third, and also injuring another family member, said security sources.
One source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Kurdistan 24 on Friday that gunmen from the extremist group stormed the village outside the town of al-Nabai, which lies in southernmost Salahuddin Province, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Baghdad.
Another security source said that, in addition to the two brothers who were killed, a third brother and one of their cousins were also injured by gunfire.
A third source specified that the shooting occurred in a village named "al-Qarya al-Khamisa," located in a rural area where residents make their livings primarily through farming.
The incident comes just two days after Islamic State members ambushed soldiers from the Iraqi army in the nearby Tarimiya district of Salahuddin Province, killing at least six, according to the latest numbers, in what is reportedly the deadliest recent attack in the country.
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The attack began with an improvised explosive device targeting a military vehicle, said Iraq’s Security Media Cell said in a statement, with Islamic State snipers then gunning down evacuating soldiers. According to a local news report, 17 other security members were also injured.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Defense announced that its forces had arrested an Islamic State leader of a local branch in a sub-district of northern Baghdad Province, also in the same general vicinity.
Though the identity of the suspect was not given, a ministry statement read that the suspect was part of a “terrorist family” whose mother and sister were both in prison and whose “father and brother fled to a neighboring country.”
Although Iraq declared a military defeat against the Islamic State in December 2017, the terrorist group’s activities have continued and recently appear to have increased in frequency with armed assaults, assassinations, and arson, adding to the general fear of residents in areas with already-tenuous security situations.
Editing by John J. Catherine