News - Middle East: The Iraqi Army F-16 aircraft have targeted the positions of remaining Daesh terrorists in the eastern province of Diyala.

The Iraqi Security Information Cell said in a statement that the aerial operation was conducted on Diyala’s Khanaqin district on Tuesday morning.

Groups of armed terrorists have recently increased their activities in Diyala as well as the provinces of al-Anbar and Saladin, prompting the Iraqi armed forces and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) to jointly carry out several large-scale operations, arrest a number of militants and destroy their hideouts, the statement read.

Lately, it added, Diyala’s al-Muqdadiya and Abi Sayda districts have witnessed attacks against security forces, civilians and local figures.

On Saturday, the Security Information Cell announced that Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had called for the reinforcement of the armed forces in Diyala in the face of terrorists.

Almost two dozen executed on terrorism charges

On Monday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said in a statement that 21 convicted terrorists and murderers had been hanged at a prison in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

Among those executed were people involved in two deadly attacks in the city of Tal Afar, in northern Nineveh Province, according to the statement.

It did not elaborate on the identities of the executed people or their convictions.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

The PMU or Hashd al-Sha’abi played a major role in reinforcing the Iraqi army, which had suffered heavy setbacks against the Takfiri elements.

Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December 2017 after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign, which also had the support of neighboring Iran.

The terror outfit’s remnants, though, keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash new era violence.

Daesh has intensified its terrorist attacks in Iraq since January, when the United States assassinated top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and PMU’s deputy commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Baghdad International Airport.

The two commanders were highly popular because of the key role they played in eliminating Daesh in the region.