Militants hit Iraq-Turkey Pipeline security forces

MOSUL - A deadly weekend ambush on an Iraqi Army unit protecting the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) in Ninewa province is the latest in a series of attacks that have hobbled Iraq’s northern oil sector and depressed overall oil exports.

Early Sunday morning, an unknown number of armed militants ambushed a military vehicle near Ain al-Jahash, about 60 kilometers south of Mosul, and abducted the 20 Iraqi soldiers in it. According to a senior Interior Ministry official, the Ninewa Operations Command launched an operation in response. At least three soldiers were later found dead, all shot in the head.