An assault on an army camp guarding an oil pipeline in northern Iraq left 15 soldiers dead. The pre-dawn attack was staged in the northern province of Nineveh, security and morgue officials said.
The soldiers were killed near Hamam al-Alil, one of the most violent parts of the country. The region is notorious for daily attacks near the provincial capital of Mosul.
The attack targeted a station hosting security forces that were guarding an important piece of infrastructure. The style of the attack mirrored that of a similar shooting in the northern town of Tuz Khurmatu on Sunday in which six policemen were killed.
The latest bloodshed has sparked concerns about Iraq falling back into conflict. This most recent attack is just another in the overall rise in violence that resembles that of the last decade of war. Government figures show that more than 1,000 people were killed last month alone.
