Iraqi sources said that 12 people were killed and more than 30 others were wounded, some of them seriously, as a result of an armed attack attributed to the Islamic State in the city of Muqdadiya in the eastern province of Diyala, on Tuesday night.

These sources added that the attackers used machine guns, grenades and several vehicles.

Following the attack, the security forces mobilized all their units and employees, and large security reinforcements arrived at the scene in an attempt to control the situation.

The police indicated that the militants of the organization fled after the arrival of a military force to the village.

But no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The cowardly terrorist incident against our people in Diyala is a despicable attempt to destabilize the country. It is a reminder of the need to unite the ranks, support our security services, close loopholes, and not underestimate the threat of ISIS and the importance of continuing the national effort to end its remnants in all the region.


Mercy and eternity to our righteous martyrs and a speedy recovery to our wounded.

— Barham Salih (@BarhamSalih) October 26, 2021

broad denunciation

The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, considered the incident in Diyala a "despicable" attempt to destabilize the country.

He said in a tweet to him on Twitter, "The cowardly terrorist incident against our people in Diyala is a despicable attempt to destabilize the country. It is a reminder of the need to unite the ranks, support our security services, close loopholes, and not underestimate the threat of ISIS (ISIS) and the importance of continuing the national effort to end its remnants in all the region."

The terrorists tried what we did.

Deny what we swear.

We will pursue them wherever they flee, inside and outside Iraq;

And the crime of Muqdadiya against our people will not pass without retribution... Oh God, so bear witness.


The more they shed innocent blood, the more we insist that we end any trace of them in the land of Mesopotamia.

— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (@MAKadhimi) October 26, 2021

For his part, the Prime Minister (Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces) Mustafa Al-Kazemi pledged retribution.

Al-Kazemi said in a tweet on his Twitter account, "We will chase the terrorists wherever they flee, inside and outside Iraq. Al-Muqdadiya's crime against our people will not pass without retribution."

"The more they shed innocent blood, the more we insist that we end any trace of them in the land of Mesopotamia," he added.

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— Muhammad Al-Halbousi (@AlHaLboosii) October 26, 2021

For his part, the head of the "Progress" coalition, Muhammad al-Halbousi (the speaker of the dissolved parliament), confirmed that terrorism's targeting of civilians in Diyala is a blatant attempt to destabilize the national ranks.

And he called - in a tweet to him on Twitter - the national political forces "to give precedence to the interest of Iraq over everything else and to miss the opportunity for those stalking the unity of the sons of the one nation."

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- Muqtada al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr (@Mu_AlSadr) October 26, 2021

The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, also warned against ignoring terrorism and its crimes.

And he said in a tweet on Twitter, "Terrorism and its crimes should not be overlooked, and we should not be distracted by conflicts over seats and politics, and terrorism should not be forgotten."

He added, "Here is one of the villages of Al-Muqdadiya that is ravaged by terrorism in the midst of the political conflict. The mujahid should not leave the berms. Terror is still lurking among the prosperous Iraqis. Wake up, may God have mercy on you. Otherwise, terrorism will return."

Retreat attacks

In late 2017, Iraq announced its victory over the Islamic State after expelling the jihadists from all the major cities they seized in 2014.

Since then, the organization's attacks in cities have decreased significantly, but the Iraqi forces are still chasing sleeper cells in mountainous and desert areas, while the organization from time to time targets military sites, and last month it carried out an attack that killed 30 people in the Sadr City neighborhood of the capital, Baghdad.

And in early September, 13 policemen were killed in an attack on a checkpoint near Kirkuk (in the north of the country), which was attributed to the organization.

On July 19, the organization was able to launch a "suicide" attack in Baghdad on the eve of Eid al-Adha, in which 30 people were killed and about 50 were wounded, most of them children.