Gunmen kill five civilians, abduct four others, southwest of Kirkuk
IS fighters
Speaking to AlSumaria News, the source said, “a group of Islamic State armed militants attacked, in the evening, al-Khuzeifi village, in Riyad region, southwestern Kirkuk, leaving five civilians including the mayor of the village, killed.”
“Security troops cordoned off the accident scene and transferred the bodies to forensic medicine department,” the source, who preferred anonymity, added.
Moreover, four civilians were abducted by armed militants in the southwest of the province.
“Armed persons kidnapped, in the evening, three civilians from al-Nasr and al-Sharifiya villages in Riyad, southwest of Kirkuk,” another source said. “Those people have strong ties with security officers.”
“Another group of armed people abducted a civilian in al-Khuzeifi village,” the source, who asked to remain anonymous, added. “The kidnapped person is a relative of a senior army officer in Kirkuk.”
Officials in the province of Kirkuk has urged reinforcing military troops in the south and west, as the region still have IS members who escaped during liberation offensives of Hawija and mainly in houses and tunnels at remote areas in Riyad, al-Rashad and between al-Abbassi and Dibis.
The Joint Operations Command announced in October the liberation of each of Hawija, Riyad and al-Rashad. Over 1,300 members were killed during offensives to free Hawija, while over 800 members were killed during the second phase of operations.
A government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition has been fighting, since October 2016, the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul.