BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber struck an Iraqi position on the border with Saudi Arabia, killing six guards, officials said Saturday, an attack claimed by the Daesh group.
The bomber detonated an explosives-rigged truck at a border post in Iraq’s vast Anbar province on Friday and also wounded 14 guards, an army lieutenant colonel and a local official said.
Daesh issued a statement claiming the attack, which it said was carried out by a bomber identified as Abu Ali Al-Ansari.
The statement was accompanied by photos, some of which were apparently shot from a drone.
One showed a truck trailed by a long cloud of dust approaching a small outpost in the desert, while another pictured a massive column of smoke tinged with fire almost completely obscuring the position.
Other shots showed fighters with machine guns and a mortar who were said to have supported the attack.
The truck itself was shown swathed in home-made armor that covered all but a small window for the driver and an air intake for the engine.
Daesh has overrun significant territory in Anbar province, which stretches from the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the western approach to Baghdad, including provincial capital Ramadi.
Daesh used dozens of car and truck bombs in the operation in which it seized Ramadi in May, and explosive devices are a key aspect of the jihadists’ offensive and defensive tactics.
Iraqi security forces have been fighting to close in around Ramadi for months, and succeeded in retaking a large area on the southwest side of the city last week.
Daesh suicide bomber kills six on Iraq-Saudi border
Daesh suicide bomber kills six on Iraq-Saudi border
Iraq begins closing Al-Hol camp, 19,000 citizens return home
- About 3,000 Iraqis still remain in Al-Hol
- The camp currently houses around 60,000 people of various nationalities, most of them women and children linked to Daesh fighters
DUBAI: Iraq said it has begun dismantling the Al-Hol camp in northeast Syria, repatriating thousands of its citizens as part of efforts to prevent the site from being used to promote extremist ideology, state news agency INA reported on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Migration and Displacement said around 19,000 Iraqis returned from Al-Hol to their former areas of residence and were reintegrated into local communities, with no security incidents recorded.
Karim Al-Nouri, undersecretary at the ministry, said returnees were subjected to screening and vetting before their transfer to the Al-Amal Community Rehabilitation Center in Al-Jada’a, south of Mosul in Iraq.
“The Ministry of Migration and Displacement is not concerned with security aspect,” Al-Nouri said, adding terrorism cases are handled separately by judiciary.
He said senior Daesh militants recently transferred to Iraq were brought from prisons run by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and not from Al-Hol camp.
The most recent group of returnees consists of 281 families, marking the 31st batch received by Iraq so far.
Officials described Al-Hol as a potential security threat, saying the camp has been exploited in the past as a recruitment hub for Daesh and a center for spreading extremism.
The camp currently houses around 60,000 people of various nationalities, most of them women and children linked to Daesh fighters.
Iraqi returnees receive psychological, medical and social support at the Al-Amal center, with assistance from international organizations and the Iraqi health ministry, before returning to their communities, according to the ministry. Those found to have committed crimes are referred to courts.
Al-Nouri said about 3,000 Iraqis still remain in Al-Hol. He added Iraqi detainees are also held in other prisons in Syria, with their cases requiring follow-up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
