Unidentified gunmen attack security patrol with hand grenades in Kirkuk

Kirkuk (Iraqinews.com) Unidentified gunmen have attacked a security patrol in central Kirkuk using hand grenades on Sunday, a security source told Baghdad Today.

“The bomb attack targeted a patrol of Emergency Police at Teseen neighborhood in Kirkuk,” the source said, adding that there has been no official word on the number of casualties so far.

Last week, Kirkuk security command said it killed two Islamic State members and arrested a third in the northwest of the province as Iraqi forces continue to clear the country from remnant militant cells.

Alsumaria News quoted Kikruk Operations commander, Fadel Omran, saying that troops carried out a security operation on the Dibis-Hawija road, combing the area for Islamic State hideouts.

He said the efforts led to the “killing of two terrorists and the arrest of a third”.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State in the country last week, marking the end of a three-year war against the militant group which proclaimed a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate” in 2014.

Kirkuk’s southwestern town of Hawija had been a major stronghold for Islamic State fighters. There, the militants held thousands of civilians and executed hundreds for attempting to escape the town or collaborate with security forces.

Iraqi forces took over the town in early October after nearly two weeks of combat.