Iraqi forces kill ISIS militants suspected of assassinating police chief
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi forces have killed six militants in a security operation to track down those responsible for the assassination of a Kirkuk police official and his son, an Iraqi military commander said.
Police Chief Fadil Said al-Sabawi and his son were killed in an armed attack Sunday evening on the Kirkuk-Hawija road. Sabawi was the head of police in Shariyah village, 67km west of Kirkuk.
Army units killed three ISIS militants who were involved in the attack, Maj Gen Ali Fadhil Omran, commander of Kirkuk operations, stated on Monday. They were killed in clashes near the village of Saadiya.
Another three militants were killed by Hashd al-Shaabi forces in Bashir, south of Kirkuk, Omran added.
Despite Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announcing the liberation of Iraq from ISIS earlier this month, remnants of the militant group remain.
Kirkuk city, the capital of the diverse province, has been home to Kurds, Turkmen, Arabs, and other groups. It came under the control of Peshmerga in 2014 after the rise of ISIS.
Kirkuk fell to the Iraqi military, supported by Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi, on October 16 in an offensive to take over the oil-rich city from following Kurdistan’s vote for independence on September 25.
Police Chief Fadil Said al-Sabawi and his son were killed in an armed attack Sunday evening on the Kirkuk-Hawija road. Sabawi was the head of police in Shariyah village, 67km west of Kirkuk.
Army units killed three ISIS militants who were involved in the attack, Maj Gen Ali Fadhil Omran, commander of Kirkuk operations, stated on Monday. They were killed in clashes near the village of Saadiya.
Another three militants were killed by Hashd al-Shaabi forces in Bashir, south of Kirkuk, Omran added.
Despite Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announcing the liberation of Iraq from ISIS earlier this month, remnants of the militant group remain.
Kirkuk city, the capital of the diverse province, has been home to Kurds, Turkmen, Arabs, and other groups. It came under the control of Peshmerga in 2014 after the rise of ISIS.
Kirkuk fell to the Iraqi military, supported by Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi, on October 16 in an offensive to take over the oil-rich city from following Kurdistan’s vote for independence on September 25.