Security and tribal forces have ramped up security measures in al-Baaj district, southwest of Mosul, following recent attacks by "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) remnants, Ninawa provincial council member Khalaf al-Hadidi told Diyaruna Tuesday (August 21st).

"Joint army and police forces have boosted their deployment to secure the district in co-ordination with the Nawader Shammar tribal mobilisation force and al-Jaghayfa tribesmen," he said.

ISIS elements on Sunday tried to attack residents in al-Basisiya village, but the attack was thwarted by security forces and tribesmen, forcing the extremists to withdraw, al-Hadidi said.

Al-Baaj district is one of the most important administrative areas in Ninawa province, he said. It borders Syria to the west, and the desert area in northwestern Anbar, known as Upper Euphrates, to the south.

ISIS remnants often launch attacks on al-Baaj villages and neighbouring al-Hadhar district from these vast desert areas where they are hiding, he added.

"Terrorists have been targeting villagers’ houses over the past two months, killing five in al-Baaj, including a six-year old boy and his mother, while his father was wounded," al-Hadidi said.

They also killed four villagers in Tal Abta in al-Hadhar, and before them seven shepherds and farmers in the same district, he added.

"The tribes hold the ground in [al-Hadhar district] where the security forces are heavily deployed," he said, noting that "there is still a need for more forces and military operations in the desert, and along the Syria border strip within Ninawa province".

"These border areas extending from al-Tarifawi all the way to Rabia and Mount Sinjar, need greater security and aerial coverage to hit the terrorists’ hideouts and block the gaps through which they may infiltrate," he said.

Iraqi security forces have retaken al-Baaj, Ninawa’s biggest district, from ISIS on June 4th, 2017.

Since its recapture, growing numbers of displaced residents have been returning home in the district, with 500 displaced families returning this week alone to al-Jughayfi.