At least four members of Iraqi law enforcement were killed while searching for Islamic State fighters in the town of Khan Bani Saad in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province, government and hospital sources said Saturday. At least three Iraqi police officers have been seriously injured, one of which is in critical condition.
Allegedly taking shelter in the rural town, IS fighters emerged from hiding and attacked law enforcement, leading to the deadly clash, according to police.
The fighting is ongoing, according to two high-ranking police sources, with IS fighters utilizing snipers to prevent police and soldiers from approaching.
Iraq’s security situation has largely stabilized in the wake of the 2003 US invasion and the widespread sectarian conflict that followed American withdrawal.
Highly diverse, Iraq contains large populations of Arab Sunnis and Shias, as well as a large autonomous Kurdish region to the country’s north.
In the mid-2010s, the Islamic State, a transnational terrorist organization bent on creating a worldwide caliphate, took control of large swaths of Iraq and Syria. This branch of the group, otherwise known as ISIS, was the largest and most widely powerful of all the Islamic State’s different regional entities.
Remaining American troops
There are at least 2,500 US troops still stationed in Iraq; however, the Iraqi government in Baghdad has signaled at multiple points that they are interested in a total US withdrawal.
