Kirkuk: Suicide bomber targets Hashd, ISIS kills two at oilfield
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A suicide bomber has targeted a Hashd al-Shaabi headquarters in Kirkuk on Sunday morning, after ISIS killed two police at an oilfield in the province the day before.
A suicide bomber blew himself up in the headquarters of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq in Kirkuk’s Sahatayaran neighborhood near PUK’s headquarters, a source has told Rudaw.
Information on casualties or the perpetrator of the attack is not immediately known.
The explosion happened at 6:30 am on Sunday, with the bomber first entering the militia’s headquarters.
SWAT and counter-terrorism teams were deployed in the neighborhood after the explosion, preventing people and vehicles from getting close to the scene.
The attack comes a day after two oil police were killed by ISIS at a Kirkuk oilfield on Saturday.
“A large number of ISIS terrorists attacked a post of the oil police force near well 43 in the Khabbaz oilfield, killing two and wounding a third,” a security source told AFP.
Late last week, Kirkuk police tried to reassure the population that the region is secure amid concerns of possible threats from ISIS sleeper cells in the area.
Hamasur Doshwani, member of PUK’s central council in Kirkuk, claimed to Rudaw that “ISIS has controlled 40 percent of the governorate, but Iraqi forces do not acknowledge this truth.”
The spokesperson for Kirkuk police, Afrasiaw Kamil Waisi, stressed that the situation was under control.
“The situation in Kirkuk and the surrounding areas is calm. Let the people be assured that there is no threat and what exists is only propaganda,” he told Rudaw.
ISIS sleeper cells are a persistent threat in the region. Last Sunday, 27 Hashd fighters were killed by the group.
A suicide bomber blew himself up in the headquarters of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq in Kirkuk’s Sahatayaran neighborhood near PUK’s headquarters, a source has told Rudaw.
Information on casualties or the perpetrator of the attack is not immediately known.
The explosion happened at 6:30 am on Sunday, with the bomber first entering the militia’s headquarters.
SWAT and counter-terrorism teams were deployed in the neighborhood after the explosion, preventing people and vehicles from getting close to the scene.
The attack comes a day after two oil police were killed by ISIS at a Kirkuk oilfield on Saturday.
“A large number of ISIS terrorists attacked a post of the oil police force near well 43 in the Khabbaz oilfield, killing two and wounding a third,” a security source told AFP.
Late last week, Kirkuk police tried to reassure the population that the region is secure amid concerns of possible threats from ISIS sleeper cells in the area.
Hamasur Doshwani, member of PUK’s central council in Kirkuk, claimed to Rudaw that “ISIS has controlled 40 percent of the governorate, but Iraqi forces do not acknowledge this truth.”
The spokesperson for Kirkuk police, Afrasiaw Kamil Waisi, stressed that the situation was under control.
“The situation in Kirkuk and the surrounding areas is calm. Let the people be assured that there is no threat and what exists is only propaganda,” he told Rudaw.
ISIS sleeper cells are a persistent threat in the region. Last Sunday, 27 Hashd fighters were killed by the group.