Members of the Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades), a group formed by Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, pictured during a funeral procession in the northern city of Samarra. (File photo: AFP)
Seven Iraqi fighters were killed north of Baghdad on Thursday when a suicide bomber attacked a base of an armed group led by Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the army said.
The attack, which also wounded three fighters, was carried out by “a suicide terrorist,” it said, using its standard term for ISIS.
No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The attack took place late in the day near Tharthar lake southwest of Samarra, a longtime stronghold of extremist groups some 100 kilometers north of Baghdad.
Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades) force took part in the grueling Iraqi operation against ISIS after the extremists seized a third of Iraq and swathes of neighboring Syria in 2014.
In late 2017, Iraq declared victory over ISIS, but its sleeper cells continue to carry out attacks across the country.
