ISIS Attack Kills One Iraqi Soldier North of Baghdad

Iraqi soldiers from the new “desert battalion” special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (AFP)
Iraqi soldiers from the new “desert battalion” special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (AFP)
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ISIS Attack Kills One Iraqi Soldier North of Baghdad

Iraqi soldiers from the new “desert battalion” special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (AFP)
Iraqi soldiers from the new “desert battalion” special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (AFP)

A roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi army patrol north of Baghdad on Friday, killing one soldier and wounding four others, the defense ministry said in a statement.

The attack took place in the town of Tarmiya, 25 km (15 miles) north of Baghdad, the ministry said.

ISIS formally claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it killed one soldier and wounded nine others, the group said in a statement.

Iraq’s Defense Minister Thabit al-Abbasi reached the area where the attack took place and ordered an investigation, the ministry's statement said.

Despite the defeat of the ISIS militant group in 2017, remnants of the group switched to hit-and-run attacks against government forces in different parts of Iraq.



At Least 8 People are Killed When Passenger Train Slams into Minibus in Egypt

Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb
Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb
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At Least 8 People are Killed When Passenger Train Slams into Minibus in Egypt

Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb
Egyptians look at the crash of two trains that collided near the Khorshid station in Egypt's coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Osama Nageb

A train slammed into a minibus that was crossing the tracks in an unauthorized location in norther Egypt on Thursday, killing at least eight people and leaving 12 injured, the government said.

The deadly crash took place in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, the health ministry said. More than a dozen ambulances were sent to the scene, Reuters reported.

The Egyptian railway authority said the passenger train was on its regular route when the collision occurred. The place where the minibus was crossing the railway tracks is not designated for crossing.

Local Egyptian news outlets said the victims, who included children, were all take to East Qantara Central Hospital. One child was reported to be in critical condition.

Train derailments and crashes are common in Egypt, where an aging railway system has also been plagued by mismanagement. Last October, a locomotive crashed into the tail of a Cairo-bound passenger train in southern Egypt, killing at least one person. In September, two passenger trains collided in a Nile Delta city, killing at least three people.

In recent years, the government has announced initiatives to improve its railways. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in 2018 that some 250 billion Egyptian pounds, or $8.13 billion, would be needed to properly overhaul the neglected rail network.