Iraq: 10 combatants killed in attacks by the Islamic State group

Text by: Lucile Wassermann

In Iraq, at least ten Iraqi fighters were killed this Saturday by jihadists from the Islamic State group. They belonged to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a paramilitary coalition recently integrated into the security forces. It's the deadliest attack in months. In a context of crisis and instability, several experts fear a resurgence of the group.

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With our correspondent in Baghdad,

It had been months since the Islamic State group had coordinated such an attack. This Saturday, less than 200 kilometers north of Baghdad, jihadists have targeted an Iraqi paramilitary checkpoint.

Reinforcements were sent, but a bomb then targeted their convoy, and a few kilometers away, other shots took place, in the same province, again launched by the jihadist group. A total of ten Iraqi paramilitaries were killed.

These deadly assaults raise fears in Iraq of a resurgence of the group, whose activity has significantly increased in the last month. Already last week, the group had claimed an attack in the center of Kirkuk, in the north of the country.

Experts are sounding the alarm because it has been a long time since these new incursions have been so numerous and coordinated. Would the jihadists take advantage of the instability that is taking hold in Iraq? The political and social crisis that the country has been going through since October has been coupled with a health and economic crisis, with the coronavirus and the collapse of the oil price. So many loopholes that jihadists could take advantage of.

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• Iraq
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