Iraqi PM orders 'unconventional methods' to stop Islamic State attacks
The killing of soldiers and civilians in multiple IS attacks in two governorates has prompted calls for a change in tactics.
BAGHDAD — A large ‘martyr’s photo’ has been placed outside the headquarters of the Ali al-Akbar Brigade in this southern Shia-dominant city in commemoration of one of the group’s unit commanders, who was killed farther north in the Diyala governorate in late November in an Islamic State attack.
The Ali al-Akbar Brigade is part of the country’s official, government-salaried Popular Mobilization Units.
As the traditional Islamic 40 days of mourning for the man continue, so do attacks in both Diyala and neighboring Kirkuk. Multiple members of the country’s security forces have been killed.
Three Iraqi army soldiers were killed in an attack in the Kirkuk governorate late in the evening of Dec. 21, a security source in Kirkuk contacted by Al-Monitor on Dec. 22 said. It was the third deadly IS attack in a week in the two provinces.
