Iraqi tribal leader killed in IS Anbar attack

Iraqi tribal leader killed in IS Anbar attack
IS militants have attacked a tribal leader at his western Iraq home, killing nine people.
2 min read
13 November, 2018
IS have carried out a number of attacks in northern and western Iraq [Getty]
Islamic State group gunmen stormed a house in western Iraq on Monday, killing a local tribal leader and eight others in the latest violence to hit Anbar province.

Captain Mishaan Hazemawi was part of the Tribal Mobilisation Forces, a collection of Sunni Arab militias who have fought IS during a government fightback in northern and western Iraq.

His home was in the Karma district, around ten miles northeast of Fallujah.

Security forces told Reuters that IS were responsible for the attack although the group have not claimed responsibility for the killings.

Although IS were officially defeated in December 2017, cells still operate from hideouts in the mountains and other remote areas.

From there they have carried out bombings, assassinations and kidnappings, including attacks on military checkpoints.

Most of the attacks have taken place in Kirkuk, Diyala and Salahuddin provinces, while the south and capital Baghdad have been quieter, where security is much tighter.

IS still possess a small hunk of territory in the eastern Syrian desert, where regime and US-backed forces are fighting for control of the area.

The group once controlled much of northern and western Iraq and north-eastern Syria, including the cities of Mosul, Fallujah and Tikrit.

An Iraqi and Kurdish fightback - with US airpower - managed to defeat IS with its branches in Syria also losing the vast majority of their territory.