SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Peshmerga forces thwarted an attack by Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Khanaqin district late on Sunday, according to a Kurdish security official.
Director of Kulajo Asayish (security) Col. Shamal Abdulwahid said a group of ISIS militants tried to attack several villages in Jalawla sub-district on Sunday night.
Jalawla, or Gulala in Kurdish language, is a disputed area claimed by both the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
“A number of ISIS militants were seen between the villages of Sarcham and Islah,” Abdulwahid told Esta Media Network on Monday.
“The Peshmerga forces opened fire at the militants with machine guns and PKC, but the militants escaped the area to the forests in Khanaqin,” he said.
A unit of Peshmerga forces alongside Asayish forces went to the area and noticed “a large amount of blood there”, the security official added. “It seems the militants had injuries or deaths.”
Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December 2017 but the militants have regrouped in the Hamrin mountain range which extends into the northern provinces – an area described by officials as a “triangle of death”.
Iraqi commanders have warned that the group has been regrouping in northern Iraq and relying on women to secure logistical support for their operatives in the Hamrin mountain range.
The area is caught between the jurisdictions of the Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga forces.
