At least 15 people have been killed and injured in a twin bombing in Iraq’s northern province of Salahuddin on Sunday, the Iraqi official and security sources announced.
The first explosive went off near the village of Khanouka, south of Sharqat, targeting a bus carrying policemen on their way to work, killing two people and injuring eight others.
A second blast near al-Missili village killing two and wounding three, in addition to a war journalist who was reporting on the attacks.
Spokesman of Salahuddin Provincial Council, Marwan al-Jabra, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the attack in al-Sharqat is “not strange.”
“We have repeatedly demanded, on various occasions, for a military operation to search these areas especially the Khanouka area where the incident took place,” he added.
Jabra explained that the areas south-west of the desert, all the way to the desert on the Iraqi-Syrian border, need a real military operation, whether for inspection or to take control of the area.
The spokesman admitted that the military units in that region are not enough to cover the vast area and rugged terrain, where ISIS terrorists are taking a safe haven, which enables them to carry out terrorist attacks every now and then.
Political issues in the Baghdad are the reason for this situation in the attacked region, according to Jabra, calling to include the area residents in the security units.
In turn, specialized security expert Fadel Abu Raghef also told Asharq Al-Awsat that it is natural to have security incidents in such vast places, which had recently been cleansed from ISIS control.
He indicated that there are sleeper cells there waiting the chance for terrorist attacks, noting that Sharqat’s attack was done in a haste aiming to create a state of confusion and chaos. He mentioned that a security operation recently took place in the area raiding several ISIS locations.
In response to a question about responsibility for this security breach, Abu Raghef admitted that security services and citizens, as well as the small number of units in control of certain regions, can be held responsible.
In neighboring Diyala province, police announced a security plan to target sleeper cells around the province, especially in areas not reached by the security forces in Waqf basin’s orchids.
The security situation in Abu Sida is stable, but there are still several ISIS terrorist elements targeting innocent people, Diyala Police Chief Maj-Gen Faisal al-Abadi told a press conference Sunday.
Diyala MP Burhan al-Mamouri, stated there are still some areas infiltrated by terrorists who carry out operations such as bombings or sniper attacks that mainly target security services.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Maamouri called on the authorities to “increase operations in areas that continue to witness violations.”
