Police officer killed by unidentified assailants in Kirkuk

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Unidentified assailants shot and killed a police officer in a Kirkuk bazar on Thursday, injuring at least two other bystanders. An investigation into the incident has been launched, according to the city’s police chief. Police spokesperson said the attack was carried out by the Islamic State (ISIS).

Security footage from the site shows two police officers walking around the bazar at around 11:16 am before a masked man shoots one of them from behind and quickly fires at the other, standing a few steps away from his colleague. The murdered officer has been identified as Shwana Tahir, a Kurdish civil police member.

The other police officer is currently receiving treatment for his injuries but is “in good condition,” Kirkuk’s Police Chief Kawa Ghareeb told Rudaw’s Hardi Mohammed. The police officers were in the bazar for “personal needs,” according to the police chief.

“We will conduct an investigation to find the reason behind the crime… No one who commits a crime in this city shall escape us,” Ghareeb added.

A female bystander was also injured in the attack and is currently undergoing surgery at a Kirkuk hospital, according to information obtained by Rudaw.

Eyewitnesses from the scene told Rudaw that two men were involved in the attack.

“[The assailants] were two young men, they were both Kurds. They killed a policeman here and injured a woman and a man,” said an eyewitness, “the other one was telling the killer ‘Hurry up... Why are you not moving?’"

Amir Nuri, Kirkuk police spokesperson, described the incident as a “terrorist” act, stressing that they have yet to verify the identity and ethnicity of the assailants. He also said that the attack was carried out by ISIS. 

“This is considered a terrorist attack, because the assailant, without any reason or argument, comes from behind with his face covered in order not to be recognized, shoots him and then runs away,” Nuri told Rudaw.

Updated at 5:12 pm