A triple suicide bombing targeting a security checkpoint north of Baghdad yesterday killed at least 11 security personnel, a police officer said.
Saladin Governorate police force spokesman Colonel Mohammed al-Jabouri said three militants rammed explosives-laden vehicles into the main checkpoint near the town of al-Salam at the province’s northern entrance.
Thirty-four security officers were wounded, al-Jabouri said.
He said the attack occurred as the local police chief and head of the provincial security committee were visiting the site. Both were unharmed.
Almost at the same time, another group of militants on foot attacked a checkpoint at the eastern edge of the province, killing four policemen and wounding two others, he said.
One militant was killed in that attack, while the others fled the scene, he said.
Saladin Governor Raed al-Jabouri accused the Islamic State (IS) group of being behind the attacks, vowing to “retaliate for the martyrs by chopping off the heads of DAESH” militants, using an Arabic-language acronym for the group.
Raed al-Jabouri called on security forces to review their plans and on residents to cooperate with the authorities.
No group had claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Islamic State militants have claimed multiple similar attacks.
The Sunni group frequently launches attacks targeting Iraqi security forces and civilians in public areas. The group stepped up attacks in recent months, as it has lost territory in northern and western Iraq that it had captured in 2014.
In April last year, Iraqi security forces drove out Islamic State militants from the provincial capital, Tikrit, about 130km north of Baghdad. The attack came days after Iraqi government forces recaptured the town of al-Shirqat, north of Tikrit, from militants.
Backed by the US-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, the Iraqi government is gearing up for a major military operation to dislodge the militants from the city of Mosul.
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