The Islamic State has released photographs purporting to show a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) exploding near the Trebil border complex. The complex, which is part of the Karameh border crossing with Jordan, is in the Iraqi village of Trebil in the western province of Anbar. The attack, which was directed at an Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) checkpoint, is said to have killed or wounded several Iraqi military personnel.
The picture was produced by the Islamic State’s Wilayat Anbar and then disseminated on Twitter by its supporters. The terrorist organization has taken to releasing its propaganda that way as the social media site has cracked down on official Islamic State accounts. The provincial division (Wilayat) of Anbar is one of the Islamic State’s 18 declared provinces.
The attack, according to several Arabic-language news agencies, left at least four Iraqi military personnel dead and four others wounded. According to Iraqi Spring, an activist media group in Iraq, at least six military personnel were killed or wounded. The latter fits with a report from the Institute for the Study of War that says two Iraqi Army personnel were killed and four were wounded.
The Trebil crossing was captured by the Islamic State on June 22, just a day after the group seized the Al Qaim border crossing with Syria. Al Qaim, an Iraqi city along the Euphrates River near Syria, is now part of the Islamic State’s Wilayat al Furat (Euphrates Province). The Trebil crossing, however, was recaptured by the Iraqi military on June 24. As such, it has been a contested area for some time.
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