Four suicide bombers killed at army base in Iraq's Diyala

At least four suicide bombers, who carried out an attack on an army base in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, were killed by Iraqi soldiers on Monday, a security source said.

The bombers, affiliated to the extremist Islamic State (IS) militant group, carried out an attack on the army's Karkoush base in Baquba city, about 65 km from Baghdad, Xinhua news agency quoted Lt. General Mezhir al-Azzawi, commander of Dijlah Operations Command, as saying.

The militants, wearing explosive vests and carrying assault rifles, attacked northern gate of the base, but the troops fired back and killed one of them, while the other three were surrounded after they holed up behind concrete barriers at the scene, said al-Azzawi, whose command is responsible for the security in Diyala province.

"Our forces killed all the four suicide bombers who tried to enter the Karkoush military base. The situation in under control," Azzawi said.

He said two Iraqi soldiers were killed and three wounded in the clashes.

The attack came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS from their major stronghold in the western side of Mosul in northern Iraq.

--IANS

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