ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least 20 unidentified gunmen stormed a village in the disputed province of Kirkuk early Thursday, local sources said, suspecting the gunmen to be Islamic State (ISIS) members.
“Around 20 unidentified gunmen, suspected by security forces to be ISIS members, stormed a house in the village, and there was gunfire that resulted in one person being injured,” Hajar Tapakurayi, chieftain of the Tapa Kura village in Kirkuk’s Shwan district, told Rudaw.
The chieftain explained that the gunmen arrived at a villager’s house and demanded he open the door, but he escaped through the rear window alongside his wife and “fired at the gunmen” while fleeing.
“After the shooting, the villagers gathered at the house, and the gunmen fled,” Tapakurayi said. “The homeowner was wounded in the arm while escaping.”
Security forces arrived shortly afterward and launched a combing operation in the area in pursuit of the gunmen.
A high-ranking security official in Kirkuk provided a different account, saying that a person was injured after being shot in the arm by the assailants.
“Around 20 gunmen demanded food from the villagers, but when they were denied, they opened fire,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
While the gunmen were not readily identified, ISIS militants frequently roam the outskirts of disputed Kirkuk and launch attacks from rural areas.
ISIS seized control of large swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions.
The militants have taken shelter in a security vacuum in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, stretching across the provinces of Salahaddin, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Diyala.
Earlier this month, four Iraqi army soldiers were killed in an ISIS ambush in Kirkuk - an area infamous for being used as a hideout for ISIS fighters.
Peshawa Bakhtyar contributed to this report.
“Around 20 unidentified gunmen, suspected by security forces to be ISIS members, stormed a house in the village, and there was gunfire that resulted in one person being injured,” Hajar Tapakurayi, chieftain of the Tapa Kura village in Kirkuk’s Shwan district, told Rudaw.
The chieftain explained that the gunmen arrived at a villager’s house and demanded he open the door, but he escaped through the rear window alongside his wife and “fired at the gunmen” while fleeing.
“After the shooting, the villagers gathered at the house, and the gunmen fled,” Tapakurayi said. “The homeowner was wounded in the arm while escaping.”
Security forces arrived shortly afterward and launched a combing operation in the area in pursuit of the gunmen.
A high-ranking security official in Kirkuk provided a different account, saying that a person was injured after being shot in the arm by the assailants.
“Around 20 gunmen demanded food from the villagers, but when they were denied, they opened fire,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
While the gunmen were not readily identified, ISIS militants frequently roam the outskirts of disputed Kirkuk and launch attacks from rural areas.
ISIS seized control of large swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions.
The militants have taken shelter in a security vacuum in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, stretching across the provinces of Salahaddin, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Diyala.
Earlier this month, four Iraqi army soldiers were killed in an ISIS ambush in Kirkuk - an area infamous for being used as a hideout for ISIS fighters.
Peshawa Bakhtyar contributed to this report.
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