Five IS suicide attackers blow themselves up, others arrested in Kirkuk
Islamic State’s militants. File photo
“We had information over presence of Islamic State militants in regions of al-Rashad town, west of Kirkuk, stretching to Hamreen mountains reaching to a region near to Tuz Khurmatu, south of Kirkuk,” Ali al-Husseini, spokesperson for al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in the northern axis, told Alghad Press on Saturday.
Security campaigns, carried out by the troops, “resulted in arresting several militants who were among the sleeper cells, which are based in remote areas,” Husseini added. “Our troops managed to confiscate a hideout for IS, where five suicide bombers were inside. They blew up themselves after besieging them.”
“Similar operations will be carried out there to arrest the sleeper cells, which recently appeared in south and west of Kirkuk,” Husseini said.
A security source told Arabs Today website on Friday that IS launched armed attack against al-Awaser village in Riyad region in Hawija, which left 10 PMFs personnel killed and four others wounded. Four of the attackers were killed.
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.