Diyala (IraqiNews.com) A security personnel was slaughtered by Islamic State militants in an ambush set up, northeast of Baquba, Diyala, a security source said on Saturday.

Speaking to Baghdad Today website, the source said, “Islamic State members set up an ambush on the sides of Neft Khana road, near Khanqeen, northeast of Baquba.”

The militants, according to the source, “slaughtered one of the personnel of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), of the 110th brigade.”

Thousands of IS militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition, was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group.

In December, Abadi announced full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members. However, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country.

A total of 104 Iraqi civilians and policemen were killed, while 177 others were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in March, according to casualty figures by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

As many as 3,298 civilians were killed and 4,781 others were wounded in 2017, excluding Anbar civilian casualty figures for November and December, which are not available, UNAMI said in a report in December. </s> Baghdad (Iraqinews.com) – A group of Islamic State militants executed on Monday six people, including two pro-government fighters, a few hours after kidnapping them in Mosul city.

“IS militants wearing Iraqi military uniforms set up a fake checkpoint on the road linking between Ein el-Azab village in Al-Shirqat district and al-Hadar Island in southern Mosul,” Captain Abdel Khaleq al-Eifan from the Iraqi rapid response forces told Turkey’s news agency Anadolu.

The IS terrorists managed to kidnap six people, including four workers and two members of Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) after examining their IDs, Captain al-Eifan said.

The bodies of the six people were found at a desert area a few hours after the kidnapping, he said, adding that the victims were found shackled and shot in their heads and backs, meaning that they were executed by the IS militants.

Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December with the help of a US-led alliance, having retaken all the territory captured by the extremists in 2014 and 2015.

Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country. </s> Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the blasts that took place, north of Tikrit, which left many people killed and injured.

The media-arm of IS, Amaq news agency, said 17 personnel of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) were killed, while 30 others were wounded in an ambush at Asdeira village in Shirqat town.

On Thursday, Ali Dawdah, mayor of Shirqat, said in a statement, “ten people were killed, while 14 others were wounded as explosives went off while digging tombs, on Wednesday night. The bombs were planted in a grave in Asdeira village in western Shirqat, north of Salahuddin.”

Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country.

A total of 104 Iraqi civilians and policemen were killed, while 177 others were injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in March, according to casualty figures by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Thousands of IS militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.

In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members. </s> Diyala (IraqiNews.com) Joint security forces have killed three Islamic State militants in an operation, northeast of Baquba, a source from Diyala province said on Friday.

“Joint troops of the army and the mobilization forces killed three IS members near Hamreen lake, northeast of Baquba,” the source told AlSumaria News.

On Wednesday, news reports quoted sources as saying that Iraqi troops killed Abu Nabil al-Iraqi, the mastermind of several terrorist attacks launched by Islamic State, and seven of his aides in a military operation in northeastern Diyala. A-Iraqi used to provide the militant group with financial and logistic support to target security forces in Diyala

Thousands of IS militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition, was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group.

In December, Abadi announced full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members. However, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country.

As many as 3,298 civilians were killed and 4,781 others were wounded in 2017, excluding Anbar civilian casualty figures for November and December, which are not available, UNAMI said in a report in December. </s> Image copyright nasiriyah.org Image caption The attack has been claimed by so-called Islamic State

At least 60 people have been killed in two attacks in southern Iraq, police and health officials say.

A suicide bomber detonated a vest and gunmen opened fire inside a restaurant near Nasiriya, capital of Dhiqar province, security sources said.

Soon afterwards, a car bomb exploded at a nearby checkpoint.

So-called Islamic State said it carried out the attacks. Shia Muslim pilgrims including Iranians were killed by the suspected militants.

According to news agency AFP, one report said the attackers were disguised as members of Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) - a mainly Shia group that has fought alongside Iraqi forces against IS.

The attackers struck at midday local time (09:00 GMT) in stolen army vehicles.

"One attacker blew up his suicide vest inside the crowded restaurant while a group of other gunmen started to throw grenades and fire at diners," said police colonel Ali Abdul Hussain, quoted by Reuters.

At least seven Iranians were among the dead, health officials said, adding that more than 90 people were injured.

Image copyright nasiriyah.org Image caption Some of the injured are in a serious condition

Unconfirmed reports said police officers had died in the checkpoint attack, but the total number of dead from that incident is not known.

Afterwards, rescuers cleared away burned bodies, vehicles and twisted scraps of metal from corrugated shelters.

IS are enduring defeat after defeat on front lines in both Iraq and Syria, but they remain capable of launching devastating assaults on soft targets, says BBC Middle East editor Alan Johnston.

It is still believed to have hundreds of followers prepared to carry out attacks.

However, such attacks are relatively rare in southern Iraq, and Dhiqar province has previously been spared some of the worst of Iraq's violence.

The area targeted is on a main road frequented by Shia pilgrims and visitors from Iran on their way to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala to the north. </s> Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces on Tuesday arrested an Islamic State member who, they claim, was behind several ambushes in which security personnel had been killed in the latest period.

Alsumaria News quoted a security source saying that “security forces arrested 11 Islamic State terrorists, including Abu Suleiman al-Afri, who had been responsible for erecting fake checkpoints on the Kirkuk-Baghdad road”.

The source, who asked not to be named, said troops found maps and drafts of attack schemes for the group.

Iraq declared victory over Islamic State militants in December, ending a three-year war to retake areas occupied by the militants in 2014.

Though the government said the group’s territorial influence came to an end, the militants have launched occasional attacks against security forces and civilians, growing fears that it might still pose a security threat.

News reports have said the group had set up several ambushes in which security forces were attacked.

In mid February, the group ambushed several Popular Mobilization Forces members in Saadouniya, Kirkuk, leaving 27 dead. After the attack, Iraqi forces launched offensives to clear remnant militant cells in the province. </s> Gunmen stopped an ambulance carrying two wounded soldiers south of the provincial capital of Al-Arish, the sources told Reuters.

The gunmen shot and wounded the paramedic and took the ambulance and one of the soldiers, the sources said.

The body of the abducted soldier was later found about 30km (20 miles) down the road near Sheikh Zuweid, they added.

Egypt faces a Sinai-based insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

Authorities this week executed six members of Sinai Province, the country's most active militant group.

Sinai Province changed its name from Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis after pledging allegiance to Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group that has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Separately, two women were earlier killed when a stray shell fell on their home in Sheikh Zuweid, the security sources said. </s> Six people, including two members of Iraq's Hashd al-Ashaeri militia, were killed Monday in an ambush carried out by the Daesh terrorist group near the city of Mosul, according to a local official.

Nurettin Kaplan, the deputy head of Mosul's local council, told Anadolu Agency that the terrorists had set up a fake security checkpoint south of the city.

According to Kaplan, the terrorists -- disguised as Iraqi security personnel -- killed the six individuals after detaining them at the checkpoint.

"Daesh terrorists are stopping vehicles passing through the checkpoints with a view to detaining and killing security personnel," he said.

He said two of those killed Monday were members of Iraq's Hashd al-Ashaeri, a Sunni-Arab fighting force affiliated with the Iraqi army.

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence had been all but destroyed.

It appears, however, that the notorious terrorist group still maintains an active presence in parts of northern and western Iraq. </s> New Delhi: The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has killed two Chinese nationals it kidnapped from Quetta city of southwest Pakistan last month, the militant group’s Amaq agency said on Thursday.

Armed men pretending to be policemen kidnapped the Chinese language teachers – a man and a woman – from the upmarket Jinnah Town area of Quetta on May 24.

The SITE Intelligence Group said that the ISIS, through its Amaq news agency, has claimed that its fighters in Pakistan have killed two Chinese nationals held in Mastung.

"Islamic State fighters kill two Chinese people they had been holding in Balochistan province, southwest Pakistan," Amaq said.

The Chinese nationals were being held in Mastung district, the same area where the Pakistan Army conducted an operation against the ISIS during June 1-3.

The development comes days after Pakistani forces said that they have killed a number of key commanders of the Islamic State group in an operation carried out in the mountainous Mastung district after intelligence reports said the group was holding the Chinese nationals kidnapped on May 24 from Jinnah Town of the provincial capital Quetta.

Jinnah Town is one of the affluent residential areas where Chinese NGOs teach Mandarin.

The Chinese presence in Pakistan has increased in the past few years due to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Pakistani government has deployed 15,000 military personnel to protect projects under the economic corridor.
The Islamic State ambushes a member of al-Hashd al-Shaabi on Neft Khana road, near Khanqeen, northeast of Baquba, Iraq. The militants execute him.