The ISIL terrorist group is trying a new method against peasants in villages near Qara Taba region (122km from East of Baquba in Diyala province) by sending gangs of motorcyclists to blackmail them. The villages which are near Hauz Hamrain area have witnessed the incursion of 40-member gangs of ISIL motorcyclists to blackmail the residents in recent months, said a local source who called for anonymity. "In the past few months, the ISIL motorcyclists have misused the lack of security, army and police forces in remote areas and killed, kidnapped and blackmailed people in these regions," the source added. The source said that the security forces have several times tried to detain them but failed, adding that the motorcyclists hide in secret houses every time and restart their activities again. The Northern and Western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since ISIL terrorists mounted an offensive in the country in June 2014. Iraqi forces, backed by volunteer forces, have been pushing the militants out of the country's territory. On June 17, Iraqi forces managed to raise their national flag on the main government complex in Fallujah as they faced little resistance from the ISIL terrorists, who had lost their defenses there in the course of the weeks-long offensive. Later in the day, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated the nation on the liberation of Fallujah, saying there is no place for ISIL terrorists in the country.
