ISIS has continued to launch nighttime attacks in western and northern Iraq, reaching the Tarmiyah region which belongs to what is called the Baghdad belt.
The terror group branded the attacks as “Ramadan invasions,” named after Islam’s holy month of Ramadan.
In a rare show of force, the first of its kind in months, ISIS militants infiltrated a Tarmiyah village, located north of Baghdad, and kidnapped and slayed one of the security personnel positioned there.
This coincided with a series of operations launched by ISIS on Saturday in the Diyala and Salahuddin governorates and Samarra city. Published footage showed ISIS slaying four members of the same family in Samarra.
On Friday night, ISIS targeted a security checkpoint in northeastern Baghdad, causing casualties, according to security sources. Details about the casualties were not released.
Meanwhile in northern Diyala, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said a terrorist attack caused one death and 10 injuries.
The Iraqi army and the local Diyala Police, in eastern Iraq, launched a military operation south of Buhriz district to pursue ISIS operatives.
“The Diyala Operations Command, represented by the Iraqi Army's Fifth Infantry Division and the Diyala police, will conduct search operations in the southern Buhriz regions, implement arrest warrants for the wanted, and prosecute the remnants of the (ISIS) terrorist cells, as well as enhance security and stability there,” a security statement said.
Member of the parliamentary Security and Defense Committee MP Bader al-Ziyadi confirmed that, in the next few days, an expansive security operation to counter ISIS will be launched.
“There are steps that will be taken to eradicate these (ISIS) outposts and their sleeping cells from our regions,” Ziyadi asserted.
"Planned operations in the areas where terrorist groups emerged are awaiting the announcement of the zero hour for their launch, after all procedures for them have been completed,” Ziyadi noted, adding that army air power will participate in crushing the terrorist organization.
The MP also warned that those involved in harboring ISIS militants will be held accountable.
