News / Iraq

Iraqi forces discover bodies of security men abducted by Daesh

Wednesday, 27 June 2018 5:03 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 27 June 2018 5:07 PM ]

Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) take part in a training drill at the Special Forces Academy near Baghdad's international airport on March 19, 2018, as Iraq marks the 15th anniversary of the US invasion. (Photo by AFP)

Iraqi security forces have discovered the bodies of eight security men who were kidnapped by remnants of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group last week.

A local commander said the bodies were found on Wednesday, two days after a three-day deadline set by the abductors ended.

On June 23, Daesh terrorists kidnapped six Iraqi security forces on the highway linking the capital Baghdad to Iraq’s north. The highway is the main road that has witnessed a surge in attacks by members of the terror outfit in recent weeks.

Shortly after abducting the security personnel, Daesh released a video purportedly showing six men identifying themselves as either members of the police or the Popular Mobilization Forces, better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi, which is mainly composed of Shia Muslim paramilitary troops.

Terrorists threatened in the video that they would decapitate the abductees in three days unless the government released female Daesh inmates.

Lieutenant General Muzher al-Azawi, commander of Diyala Operations, said the bodies were found mutilated and rigged with explosives.

According to security and medical sources, the bodies were transferred to a hospital in the northern town of Tuz Khurmato, south of Kirkuk, where they were being prepared for burial.

In December, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over Daesh, but the Takfiri militants still operate from pockets along the border with Syria and have continued to conduct ambushes, assassinations and explosions across Iraq.

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