Iraq: Two killed, four injured in roadside blasts, ISIS role suspected

Two people were killed while four others were wounded on Saturday after Daesh militants attacked northern and central Iraq. According to security sources, the first attack took place in Nineveh Governate, which borders Syria, where one soldier was killed and two civilians were wounded after a roadside bomb exploded. The blast, which Iraqi security officials believe was planted by the IS, exploded near an Iranian security unit outside a village on the outskirts of Tal Afar. 

Speaking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity, a source said that the attack took place when the country’s law enforcers were hunting down IS terrorists in the area. Meanwhile, a similar explosion occurred in the Salah al-Din governorate, where at least one civilian was killed and two others were wounded. The roadside bomb was planted by IS terrorists and exploded near the village of Tarmiyah, some 30 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad. 

Attacks in Iraq have increased manifold after Daesh’s defeat back in 2017. However, the partial military withdrawal of America has exposed the Islamic state to terror groups, particularly ISIS, which is trying to recapture oil-rich territories. Previously in May, at least six rockets were fired at an oil refinery in Iraq's autonomous north Kurdistan causing "minor damage." According to Kurdish counter-terrorism forces, the projectiles targetting the Kawergosk, a key oil refinery in northwest Kurdistan, splashed near the Zab river in the Khabat district. While there were no immediate claims of the strike, counter-terrorism authorities said that the missiles were fired from Bartella town in Nineveh province, which was once a stronghold of Islamic State jihadists before the Baghdad government recaptured the territory from IS nack in 2017. 

American role in Iraq

Under the Presidency of Barack Obama in 2011, the US withdrew its troops from the middle eastern country but reinstated them again in 2014. More recently, the troop levels were reduced to 2,500 after withdrawals based on then President Donald Trump’s orders. However, the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader in January of that year, have rekindled calls for an increased withdrawal. 

(File Image: AP)

(With inputs from agencies)