Kurdish military official survives attempt in Touz

SALAH AL-DIN / IraqiNews.com: A senior Kurdish security official escaped an attempt on his life with an improvised explosive device that targeted his vehicle in central Touz Khormato district, Salah al-Din province, on Tuesday, a security source said. “An IED went off near the vehicle of Shawan Mohammed, the chief of the Kurdish security agency Asayesh , near a court building in central Touz Khormato district, (80 km) south of Kirkuk province,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “Mohammed survived the explosive attempt unscathed but his vehicle was severely damaged,” the source added, not giving more details. Asayesh or Asayish (Kurdish for security) is a Kurdish organization, created in September 1993. It is referred to as an “intelligence agency”, Kurdistan’s intelligence agency, “security force”, “security service”, “security police”, “secret service”, “secret police”, or just “Kurdish police”. It is related to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. It also acts under the command of the Kurdish National Assembly (parliament) and the Kurdistan Regional Government Kurdistan RegionG). AmR (S) 1