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Strikes on Baghdad Belt IS cells overshadowed by militia attacks

Recent airstrikes on areas close to the Iraqi capital as well as the killing of Islamic State fighters there have received scant attention as Iran-linked groups continue to carry out persistent attacks.
Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (R) visits the army headquarters in Tarmiya, 35 kilometers north of Baghdad, on Feb. 20, 2021.

BAGHDAD — Tarmiya, roughly 50 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital, has in recent weeks been the scene of suicide bombers killed prior to reaching their target and airstrikes amid the dense groves of date palms, fields and orchards.

Late on Jan. 18, two members of the local Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) were killed in the area. An operation conducted the morning afterward in collaboration with the Iraqi National Security Service killed three IS fighters in a nearby area, with many social media accounts calling it “revenge for the martyrs” and noting that the security forces had prayed at dawn and then began the operation.

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