Residents of areas belonging to the city of Muqdadiya in Diyala Governorate (eastern Iraq) were forced to flee their villages after being subjected to repeated attacks by armed men who launched from nearby villages.

These families - most of whom are residents of the villages of Nahr al-Imam, al-Mithaq and al-Khilaniyeh - resorted to places in the city of Baqubah (the center of Diyala governorate), and the people blamed the security authorities for their failure to protect them.

Many of the displaced say that dozens of armed men attacked them from the neighboring village in reaction to a clan dispute. The dispute developed into the destruction of their villages, and the result became dozens of dead and wounded on both sides.

The latest attacks were on Friday, targeting the village of Shouk al-Reem with 3 mortar shells, without causing any casualties, according to a security source.

The attack is the second of its kind within 48 hours, as the village was attacked, the day before yesterday, Thursday, with mortar shells, two days after the killing of Sunni and Shiite civilians in an armed attack.

The same source stated that last Thursday's attack did not cause any casualties, explaining that the security situation throughout Muqdadiya district has been tense since last Tuesday.

The repeated attacks in the villages of Muqdadiya came despite the security forces imposing a curfew throughout Muqdadiya district since last Thursday, to contain the sectarian escalation.

Events erupted in the area after an armed attack - claimed by the Islamic State - last Tuesday night on the village of Rashad, which resulted in 11 deaths, according to an official estimate, while a medical source said that the attack killed 15 people.

And last Wednesday, armed militias launched a "revenge" attack targeting Sunnis in the district, in retaliation for the killing of their sons at the hands of the Islamic State, which resulted in the deaths of 8 people, in addition to setting fire to homes and orchards.

Following these events, the Iraqi forces launched intensive military campaigns and combing operations to pursue ISIS militants in the region.

The Ministerial Council for National Security will hold a meeting today, Thursday, headed by the Prime Minister and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces @MAKadhimi, in the presence of a number of security and military leaders.

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— Media Office of the Prime Minister 🇮🇶 (@IraqiPMO) October 28, 2021

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi called on security leaders to activate the security and intelligence effort to confront what he described as any attempt aimed at spreading sectarian division.

At a time when the President of the Republic, Barham Salih, said that what happened was a reminder of the need to unite the ranks.