Report: Dozens killed as Sunni extremists attack, take control of isolated village in Diyala

Soldiers with 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division sight a suspected team of insurgents during a patrol in Diyala province in May. In June the U.S. launched operation 'Arrowhead Ripper', a major assault on extremist insurgents in the province's capital of Baqubah, but General Odierno says most escaped beforehand, and many believe that they scattered to more isolated areas of the province.

Sunni extremists attacked an isolated village northwest of Baghdad in a fierce battle with residents that reportedly left dozens dead, the deputy governor of Iraq's Diyala province said Tuesday.

Residents of the village of Sherween called Deputy Gov. Auf Rahim appealing for help, saying there were no Iraqi police or army units nearby to protect them, according to an Associated Press reporter who was in Rahim's office in the city of Baqouba when he received the call.

Rahim said he was told in the call that the attackers were believed to belong to al-Qaida and that the fighting the was still going on but the insurgents appeared to have control over the village. It was not clear how many extremists were involved.

Rahim said the villagers reported that 25 extremists and 18 local residents were killed in the battles and 40 people wounded. The casualty figures could not be independently confirmed.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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