KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region—An alleged perpetrator of Sunday’s attack on a gas canister factory in Kirkuk was arrested along with three others accused of assisting with the attack. Their location was discovered through tracking a mobile sim card. Colonel Shwan Shamerani, commander of the second Peshmerga brigade, told Rudaw on Wednesday, “Last night the perpetrator of the attack with three accomplices was arrested. His name is Ryaz Sulaiman and he is 34 years old. We found him via his sim card in Kev village.” Sulaiman had hid the sim card on a woman’s person in the village. The Peshmerga also seized some guns and explosives. The accused arrested confessed their involvement in the attack on the gas company. The three others arrested are two brothers Saadun Sleman, born in 1986, Fyaz Sleman, born in 1984, and Saad Ryaz, born in 1994. On July 31, six Islamic State (ISIS) suicide bombers coming from two directions attacked the AB2 gas company in the west of Kirkuk. Two policemen and two civilians were reportedly killed. ISIS militants captured the company for an hour and half before Peshmerga retook the complex. The factory supplies gas canisters to parts of the province. It is run by the Kirkuk North Gas Company. The frontline south and west of Kirkuk has experienced major confrontations between ISIS and Kurdish forces in the last two years. According to the frontline commander, at least 6,000 ISIS militants have been killed on this front alone.
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