Despite losing ground in Mosul, IS militants to the east have stepped up insurgent attacks, conducting deadly raids on security forces, oil infrastructure, and rural villages. Hadi al-Amiri (R), the head of the Badr Organization, speaks with officers on the outskirts of Muqdadiyah, in Diyala province, on Jan. 23, 2015. (STRINGER/Reuters) On the evening of Jan. 13, Ali Haidar, the commander of the 110th Brigade of the Badr Organization paramilitary group, received a tip from an Iranian intelligence officer operating in Diyala province: five militants from the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) were in the Nada Area, just south of Khanaqin.Haidar led a detachment of 35 troops to investigate. But instead of catching a few IS militants by surprise, it was the Badr soldiers who were ambushed – by at least 20 militants – in a figh…