Iran Press/ Middle East: ISIS terrorists 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 deadliest attacks by the militants in recent weeks and came amid an uptick in violence that stoked fears the grouplet has been re-energized.
Yehia Rasool, the spokesman for Iraq’s commander in chief, said the joint military operations room and the air force identified the terrorist 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.
ISIS 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 the US-led military campaign in cooperation with Syrian Kurdish-led forces.
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.
Despite the defeat of the ISIS terrorist group in Iraq, a number of members of this terrorist group are still present in different parts of the country and carry out terrorist acts in a scattered manner.
In 2014, the ISIS terrorist group, with the financial and military support of the United States and its Western and Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia, invaded Iraq, occupying large parts of the northern and western parts of the country and committing countless crimes. Iraq subsequently called on Iran to help Baghdad fight these terrorists.
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