SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi President Barham Salih said on Tuesday all sides should support the security forces in order to eradicate terrorism from its root, following Islamic State (ISIS) attacks in Kirkuk and Diyala provinces.
Salih said the latest ISIS attacks that targeted Kirkuk and Diyala were “despicable attempts” to strike the security and stability of the country.
“It is our duty to unify national unity and support the heroic security services in order to eradicate terrorism from its roots and thwart its malicious plans,” Salih said in a tweet.
His tweet came a few hours after ISIS militants attacked two villages in Kirkuk and Diyala provinces late on Monday.
The militants killed six farmers in Kirkuk, according to Esta Media Network reporter. In Diyala, six civilians and two members of Hashid al-Shaabi were killed, Esta’s reporter in Garmian said.
ISIS overran large swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014, declaring a “caliphate” before Baghdad declared victory in late 2017 after a grinding campaign.
But a low-level militant insurgency has persisted, particularly in rural areas north of Baghdad around the city of Kirkuk and in the eastern provinces of Diyala and Saladin.
