Member of the Iraqi federal police forces stand guard at a checkpoint in a street in the capital Baghdad on Jan 29, 2021. (PHOTO / AFP)
BAGHDAD – Up to 13 people were killed and 45 others wounded on Friday in an attack by militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group on a funeral and a nearby checkpoint in Salahudin province in Iraq, a provincial police source said.
The attack took place in the evening when IS militants attacked a funeral tent in the village of Albu Jily near the town of Yathrib, some 80 km north of Baghdad, Col. Mohammed al-Bazi told Xinhua.
A medical source from Balad Hospital in the nearby town of Balad told Xinhua that they received 13 bodies with bullet wounds, while 45 wounded others were admitted to the hospital for treatment, some of them in critical condition
The IS militants also attacked a nearby checkpoint in the village, al-Bazi said, adding that three policemen were among the killed.
The security forces sealed off the scene as reinforcement troops arrived in the area, he added.
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A medical source from Balad Hospital in the nearby town of Balad told Xinhua that they received 13 bodies with bullet wounds, while 45 wounded others were admitted to the hospital for treatment, some of them in critical condition.
A brief statement by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command confirmed the attack, adding that details were to be released later.
Salahudin Provincial Governor Ammar al-Jaber condemned the deadly attack in a statement, stressing that the security forces will launch an investigation into the incident to bring the perpetrators to justice.
During the past months, IS militants have intensified their attacks on the Iraqi security forces in the province the militants previously controlled, leaving dozens dead and wounded.
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The security situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the IS militants across the country late in 2017. However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.