13 Iraqi police killed in ISIS attack in Kirkuk

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Thirteen Iraqi police officers were killed and injured when clashes erupted between Islamic State (ISIS) militants and federal police in southwestern Kirkuk, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said on Sunday.

The attack took place in Kirkuk’s Rashad sub-district just after midnight, a senior police officer told AFP. A group of ISIS militants targeted a federal police checkpoint.

“Thirteen were killed and three wounded,” the source said.

ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019 but remains a threat on both sides of the border, carrying out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.

Kirkuk's governor described the attack on the police as "dangerous."

“For this matter to be solved, an emergency session of the National Security Council needs to be held. That is our real demand,” Governor Rakan al-Jabouri said in a press conference, noting they will be waiting for the session to be held within two days.

Kirkuk province lies within disputed areas claimed by both the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. There is a security gap between Iraqi and Kurdish forces in these areas that ISIS exploits as a safe haven from which to launch attacks on civilian and military targets. ISIS has carried out at least 134 attacks in these areas so far this year.

Last week in the same Rashad sub-district, ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack on a village.

Iraqi forces daily carry out operations against ISIS, recently arresting 19 suspects in Kirkuk.

 

Updated at 1:45 pm