ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell on Thursday said the rule of law should prevail following what he describes as an attack on police by members of the Turkmen Front in Kirkuk the night before. Videos circulating on social media appear to show several people, who were later declared to be members of the Turkmen Front, fighting with police at a checkpoint in Kirkuk governorate on Wednesday night. Saad Maan, the Head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell, on Thursday said orders were issued to arrest the perpetrators. “The orders were issued to implement the law and arrest the people who assaulted the emergency patrol and refer them to the judiciary in order to receive a fair penalty,” Iraq’s Security Media Cell said on their Telegram channel on Thursday. The arrest warrant was issued “based on what circulated on social media from a video clip showing the attack of a member of the Turkmen Front in Kirkuk against a rescue patrol carrying out its duties and tasks in the governorate,” the statement added. General security is deteriorating in Kirkuk. Previously under Kurdish control, the province and its oilfields fell back under federal government control after the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) failed independence referendum in 2017. The province has also seen an uptick in Islamic State (ISIS) attacks, exploiting the security gap void of Iraqi and Kurdish forces in those disputed territories. ISIS claimed via their propaganda channels on Telegram that their armed militants attacked Peshmerga barracks near Prde (Altun Kupri), north of Kirkuk city. A Peshmerga commander said three were killed and two were wounded as a result. The militants on Wednesday also claimed responsibility for an attack on Bay Hassan oilfield, which resulted in the death and injuries of a number of security forces and energy police.
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