Alwaght – On Sunday, Diyala province police chief Lt. Gen. Jamil al-Shammari announced that the province is now free from the ISIS organization elements, after the liberation of its last strongholds north-east of Baquba, Iraqi News.com reported.
Iraqi army, Shiite militias, Sunni tribesmen, and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces push the ISIS terrorist out of the Muqdadiya area after an assault which began on Friday. Two dozen villages were captured from Islamic State fighters in Diyala in three-day offensive.
"Diyala province has become free from the ISIS organization after its last strongholds in the villages of the northern the district of Muqdadiya (35 km northeast of Baquba was liberated)", Al-Shammari told Iraqi News.
Meanwhile, after eye-catching victories of Iraqi army and associate allies over terrorists, rumors were spread accusing Shiite militias of killing more than 70 unarmed civilians who had fled clashes with ISIS.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan denied the claims, saying IS was trying to undermine the reputation of Iraqi security forces .
A local Shiite official suggested ISIS could have been behind the deaths in the eastern village of Barwanah .
The accusations meant to intensify sectarian clashes in Iraq to break cooperation between Shiites and Sunnis fighting against common enemy to bring back security and stability to their war-torn country.
