6 missile launch pads defused in Kirkuk

Kirkuk-Pads KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi security forces on Tuesday defused six missile launch pads in southwestern Kirkuk, a police source said. “Police forces defuse six missile launching pads in Wahed Huzayran region in southwestern Kirkuk after receiving a tip-off on their presence in the region,” the source told IraqiNews.com. “The operation ended without casualties,” he added. Kirkuk, 250 km (156 miles) north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, sits on the ruins of a 5,000-year-old settlement. Because of the strategic geographical location of the city, Kirkuk was the battle ground for three empires, Assyria, Babylonia and Media which controlled the city at various times. Kirkuk is the centre of the northern Iraqi petroleum industry. It is a historically and ethnically mixed city populated by Assyrians, Kurds, Arabs and Iraqi Turkmen. The population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2008. SH (P)/SR 1