Militant killed, another arrested over attack in village, southwestern Kirkuk
Iraqi forces in Kirkuk
“Troops of the Kirkuk Operations Command managed on Thursday evening to kill a militant and arrest another of those involved in a terrorist operation that targeted civilians in al-Khuzeifi village, east of Riyad town, west of Kirkuk,” Maj. Gen. Ali Fadel Umran said in a statement.
“During the campaign, a rest house for the militants, at which they were hiding, was destroyed,” Umran added.
On Tuesday, IS armed militants attacked, in the evening, al-Khuzeifi village leaving five civilians including the mayor of the village, killed.
Four others were kidnapped from villages of al-Nasr, al-Sharifiya and al-Khuzeifi.
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.