ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least one member of Iraq's Federal Police forces was killed and three others were wounded when “unidentified gunmen” attacked a checkpoint southwest of Kirkuk on Monday evening, Rudaw’s correspondent on the ground reported, amid a recent uptick in such attacks in the disputed territories.
“Unidentified gunmen attacked a checkpoint in the village of al-Burghiliya in Hawija district, southwest of Kirkuk, on Monday night, killing one federal police officer and wounding three others,” Hardi Mohammed said, noting that “the attack targeted the 3rd Battalion of the Federal Police's 9th Brigade.”
According to Mohammed, the slain officer was “killed by sniper fire after the attackers destroyed the unit's night-vision surveillance cameras.”
At the time of writing, no party had claimed responsibility for the attack, nor had Baghdad officially accused any side of being behind it.
The attack comes weeks after a member of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) was killed and another wounded in what the organization described as a "terrorist attack" in Kirkuk.
"Ali Bahjat Hamid, a member of the 16th Brigade, was killed in an armed terrorist attack targeting a brigade checkpoint at 2:00 am [local time] in the Altun Kupri [Prde] district of Kirkuk," the PMF said in an early September statement. Another PMF member, Junaid Ismat Bahjat, was wounded in the attack, the statement added.
The disputed territories, including Kirkuk, have long been vulnerable to attacks by Islamic State (ISIS) remnants. Despite the group's territorial defeat in 2017, its sleeper cells continue to carry out sporadic operations, including abductions, hit-and-run attacks, and bombings, exploiting security gaps in those areas.
Last updated at 10:30 pm
