Iraqi Warplanes Kill over 13 Daesh Militants in Salahuddin

Commander of the operation, Lieutenant General Mohammad Jasem, said on Sunday that at least 13 Daesh militants were killed as Iraqi military aircraft launched precision strikes against their hideouts across Salahuddin.

He added that dozens of the terrorists’ hideouts were also destroyed during the strikes.

In a separate development early on Monday, five Iraqi servicemen were killed and injured after Daesh militants targeted their military posts in the city of Baqubah in Diyala province.

Daesh has intensified its attacks in Iraq amid Baghdad’s call on the US to pull out its forces from the Arab country.

In a vote on January 5, the Iraqi parliament called for an end to the presence of all foreign troops, including Americans.

The vote came two days after the US military - acting on US President Donald Trump’s order - launched a fatal drone strike on senior Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital at the invitation of the Baghdad government.

The attack also claimed the lives of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s PMU or Hashd al-Sha’abi, along with eight other Iranian and Iraqi people.

Washington has threatened sanctions should US troops be expelled instead of heeding the Iraqi parliament’s call to end the occupation of the country.

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