Iraqi forces ‘burn dense jungles’ to drive IS militants out of Diyala and Saladin provinces
Authorities “set the dense jungles on fire to prevent [IS] to take shelter indoors” and came out of the places where the group members were hiding.
Iraq continues to fight a low-level IS insurgency [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty-file photo]
Iraq has continued its fight against the so-called Islamic State (IS) in a massive effort to rid rural areas of Saladin and Diyala provinces of the continued low-level militant insurgency.
Soldiers and bomb disposal teams swept through Al-Udhaim – an area near Saladin in Diyala, the Shafaq News Agency Sunday quoted a security insider as saying.
Authorities “set the dense jungles on fire to prevent [IS] to take shelter indoors” and came out of the places where the group members were hiding.
Emergency police swept through agricultural sites and rural areas near the Tigris River in Saladin.
A source said Shafaq Local forces burned the thick jungle beside the Tigris so that IS militants could not hide there or move about undetected.
The Diyala countryside was historically a site with a significant IS presence, before the Baghdad-based Iraqi government and Kurdistan Self-Governing Authorities claimed the area.
IS militants have used parts of the province as a base for rapid kidnappings and assaults.
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