18 Iraqis Killed in Multiple Night-Time ISIS Raids

Peshmerga forces in the Alton Kubre region after the ISIS attacks. (Rudaw)
Peshmerga forces in the Alton Kubre region after the ISIS attacks. (Rudaw)
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18 Iraqis Killed in Multiple Night-Time ISIS Raids

Peshmerga forces in the Alton Kubre region after the ISIS attacks. (Rudaw)
Peshmerga forces in the Alton Kubre region after the ISIS attacks. (Rudaw)

Eighteen Iraqis, the majority military personnel, were killed overnight Friday to Saturday in separate extremist attacks mainly in the greater Baghdad area, security sources told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but they are in line with the modus operandi of the ISIS group, which still has sleeper cells in Iraq despite its territorial defeat in 2017.

One attack targeted troops in Tarmiya, an agricultural suburb 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the Iraqi capital.

"ISIS fighters attacked an Iraqi army convoy at night and killed two officers and two soldiers," a security official said, on condition of anonymity.

Reinforcements were dispatched to the area but also came under fire, with "an officer and two soldiers" killed, the source said.

A member of tribal fighters integrated into the regular forces that were then deployed to the scene was also killed, "along with a civilian caught in the crossfire", the source added.

Further north, in the central Alton Kubre region, "six peshmerga (Kurdish fighters) were killed when ISIS group extremists attacked their military position with light arms", another security official told AFP.

Alton Kubre is a disputed area claimed by both the federal government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan authorities.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani called for the global US-led military coalition to fill the “security gaps” in the disputed regions.

He urged the Iraqi parliament and federal government, as well as the coalition, to speed up efforts to establish a joint force comprised of the Peshmerga and Iraqi military to address the security in the disputes regions to prevent ISIS from undermining the situation.

The group, he warned, is a threat to Kurdistan, Iraq, the region and whole world.

Another attack took place in the western desert bordering Syria, a third security source said.

"An officer and a soldier were killed in a bomb explosion while an army convoy was en route to Akashat," he said.

A soldier was also killed in a bomb blast in Diyala province, which borders Baghdad to the east, according to another official, who added that two other fighters were also wounded in a separate attack.

Iraq in late 2017 declared victory over ISIS, which had overrun swathes of the country and neighboring Syria three years earlier.

However, sleeper cells holed up in mountains and deserts continue to carry out deadly attacks across the country, often at night in remote areas and with light weapons.

Following the latest attacks, Iraqi President Barham Salih called in a tweet for continued "effective international support to eradicate terror across the region".

The US-led military coalition has been in Iraq since 2014 to help fight ISIS but a vote in parliament last year called for the departure of all foreign troops from the country.

Bakhtiyar Mohammed Sadiq, senior aide at the Peshmerga Ministry, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the attacks are a “dangerous precedent.”

They prove that ISIS was here to stay and capable of carrying out sophisticated attacks, seeing as it attacked Iraqi and Peshmerga forces in one blow, he warned.

They also demonstrate the poor security coordination between the Peshmerga and the federal security forces, he added.

The main reason such attacks persist is the lack of understanding between the leaders of these forces, he remarked, noting instead that tensions exist between them “that at times reach the point of hostility.”



Clerics Accuse West Bank Israeli Settlers of Attacking Christian Sites

Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa walks during the visit of the town of Taybeh, a Christian village in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, following settler attacks, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa walks during the visit of the town of Taybeh, a Christian village in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, following settler attacks, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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Clerics Accuse West Bank Israeli Settlers of Attacking Christian Sites

Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa walks during the visit of the town of Taybeh, a Christian village in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, following settler attacks, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa walks during the visit of the town of Taybeh, a Christian village in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, following settler attacks, July 14, 2025. (Reuters)

Christian leaders accused Israeli settlers on Monday of attacking sacred sites in the West Bank, in violence that one said was forcing some to consider quitting the occupied territory.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III - visiting the Christian town of Taybeh with other Jerusalem-based clerics - said settlers had started a fire near a cemetery and a 5th century church there last week.

"These actions are a direct and intentional threat to our local community ... but also to the historic and religious heritage," the patriarch told diplomats and journalists at a press conference in Taybeh.

Settlers had also attacked homes in the area, he said.

"We call for an immediate and transparent investigation on why the Israeli police did not respond to emergency calls from the local community and why these abhorrent actions continue to go unpunished," he added.

Israel's government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Israel's government had previously said that any acts of violence by civilians are unacceptable and that individuals should not take the law into their own hands.

During the visit, the heads of the churches led locals in prayer as candles flickered in the ruins of the 5th century church of St George. They spoke with residents who described their fears.

B'Tselem and other rights groups say settler violence in the West Bank has risen since the start of Israel's war against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza in late 2023.

Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks in recent years and the Israeli military has intensified raids across the West Bank.

Palestinian health authorities and witnesses said two men, including a US citizen, were killed by settlers during a confrontation on Friday night.

Fears over violence were pushing Christians to leave the West Bank, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem since 2020, said.

"Unfortunately, the temptation to emigrate is there because of the situation," he added. "This time it's very difficult to see how and when this will finish, and especially for the youth to talk about hope, trust for the future."

Around 50,000 Christian Palestinians live in Jerusalem and in the West Bank, an area that includes many of the faith's most sacred sites including Bethlehem where believers say Jesus was born.

Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, which Palestinians see as part of a future state.