An Iraqi military source and the provincial governor told media that eleven Iraqi troops were killed in an overnight raid by the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists against their base in the eastern province of Diyala.
“Eleven soldiers… have been killed during an attack carried out by the Daesh… targeting a base of the army,” a senior military official based in Diyala said, on condition of anonymity.
The attack took place “around 2:30am (2330 GMT) against a base in the Hawi al-Azim area,” France 24 reported, citing the source.
The Iraqi News Agency reported that the Diyala province governor Muthanna al-Tamimi confirmed the death toll.
The ISIL terrorist group took over large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014 but it was defeated by the Iraqi army and its popular forces in December 2017.
Meanwhile, a low-level insurgency by the militants of the terrorist group has persisted in the country, flaring up at various points.
The militants claimed a bombing against a market in Sadr city, a suburb of the capital Baghdad, that killed dozens of people in July last year.
A UN report last year estimated that around 10,000 Daesh fighters remained active across Iraq and Syria.
