At least 11 civilians were killed last night in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province when the minibus they were traveling in was hit by a mine explosion and then targeted by sniper fire, two security officials said today.

The civilians were returning from a campaign rally organized by a candidate from their tribe, an Iraqi interior ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

According to the governor of the province, the attack was carried out by IS jihadists.

Muthana al-Tamimi, governor of the province, denounced “a cowardly operation launched by the terrorist organization Daesh”, the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. On his Facebook page, he asked the security forces to “intensify their attention against the sleeping nuclei” of IS.

At least “11 people were killed and 17 wounded in this attack which was launched with an explosive device and then fired into the crowd,” in the village of al-Omraniya in the Miqdandiya district, a second security source from Baghdad said.

For his part, the official of the Ministry of Interior stated that “a small bus” was targeted by “two improvised explosive devices while returning from a pre-election rally”.

“This was followed by fire from a sniper, from a point that has not been identified,” he added, speaking of 12 dead civilians and 13 wounded.

IS has not claimed responsibility for this attack in Diyala, a province where jihadist cells are still active.

The attack took place a few weeks before the elections for the provincial councils, which are scheduled for December 18. These councils have important privileges and elect the governors.

After its rapid rise and conquest of large swaths of Iraq and Syria, IS was defeated in late 2017, but the jihadists still launch sporadic attacks against the military and police, mostly in more isolated areas away from major cities. .

A UN report published this summer said that “counter-terrorism operations by Iraqi forces continue to lead to the containment of the activities of Daesh, which nevertheless maintains a low-intensity insurgency.”

According to this report, “Daesh’s core structure exists and still counts 5,000 to 7,000 members in Iraq and Syriamost of whom are fighters.”