Iraq
The scene of the incident involving a tuk tuk, two people wearing vests, and security forces in Kirkuk on September 15, 2024. Screengrab: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two people wearing explosive vests were surrounded and shot at by security forces in Kirkuk, causing their vests to detonate, Iraq's interior ministry announced on Sunday, adding they were members of the Islamic State (ISIS).
The people were riding in an auto rickshaw, or tuk tuk, when security forces intercepted them, Rudaw learned.
Miqdad Miri, Iraqi interior ministry spokesperson, told Rudaw that the militants were ISIS members.
Mine action teams were deployed to the scene to investigate further, Rudaw's Hardi Mohammed said from the scene.
ISIS rose to power and seized control of large swathes of Iraqi territory during a brazen offensive in 2014. It was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017, when its so-called caliphate fell to Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, supported by the US-led international coalition.
Despite its territorial defeat, the group continues to carry out hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions in several provinces, particularly in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, which stretch across the provinces of Salahaddin, Diyala, Kirkuk, and Nineveh.
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