The army and police forces launched an operation in search of the attackers
Online
BAGHDAD
At least 11 people were killed and eight others wounded late on Sunday night when militants launched an orchestrated attack on an Iraqi military post in western Baghdad, police and medical officials said on Monday.
A government statement put the death toll at four, with three wounded. At around 11:00pm local time, gunmen believed to be from ISIS opened fire on a monitoring tower in the district of Al Radwaniyah that was manned by Sunni paramilitary troops, killing one and wounding another, a tribal leader said.
The wounded started making calls for support from their base about a kilometre away. “Whoever rushed to the scene was either killed or wounded and had his car burnt,” the tribal leader said.
“The clashes were fierce, Daesh militants were yelling ‘Alahu Akbar’ and fire was coming from three directions,” he said, using the Arabic acronym of ISIS.
“They used light weapons, grenades and roadside bombs to attack those rushing for help,” he said.
“ISIS attacked the monitoring tower, killing five members of the tribal Hashed and six local people who had come to help repel the attack,” a security source said.
A medic confirmed that eight of the wounded were transferred to a hospital in central Baghdad. The policeman and medical official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to brief the journalists.
Shortly after the attack, the militants fled the scene. The army and police forces have started an operation in search of the attackers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from ISIS.
Nearly three years after declaring victory over ISIS in late 2017, Iraqi and American officials are still warning that the war with ISIS is still far from over. According to Iraqi officials, ISIS remnants – mainly locals – are regrouping in small numbers in rural areas of the centre and the north, carrying out guerrilla-style attacks and posing a challenge to Iraqi security forces.
