More than 100 dead and wounded in Al-Waqf Basin area over the past four years

Shafaq News / Local sources in Diyala governorate revealed that more than 100 citizens were killed and injured in terrorist attacks in Al-Waqf Basin area, which extends between Abu Sayda and Al-Abara districts, northeast of Baquba.

A security source in the police told Shafaq News agency that about 50 citizens and security services were killed, while more than 50 others were injured, indicating that most of the attacks targeted security points, with sniper weapons, in addition to organized assassinations carried out by unknown groups or others linked to ISIS.

Burhan al-Rubaie, one of Abu Sayda's most prominent figures, 30 km northeast of Baqubah, said that Al-Waqf Basin has been left without security solutions for several years, due to its inter-sectarian demographic nature, as well as the power conflicts between Sunni and Shiite forces in those areas.

In his speech to Shafaq News, Al-Rubaie mentioned that some groups and political forces have used tribal conflicts to impose the hegemony of certain parties, while ISIS terrorists have exploited this chaos to carry out attacks that have caused great losses in the past four years.

In an interview with Shafaq News Agency, the commander of Diyala operations department, Major General Ghassan Al-Ezzi, referred to the incidents of the Al-Waqf Basin as "pure" tribal disputes, the frequency of which was increased by the spread of unlicensed weapons among some clans, indicating that there are continuous operations to confiscate unlicensed weapons in all regions.

Al-Waqf basin areas, 25 km northeast of Baquba, witnessed continuous attacks and security incidents over the past years, as a result of its vast rugged geographical nature.