Senior policeman, tribesman, killed in two armed attacks in Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Four people, including a senior tribesman and police department chief, were killed in two armed attacks, southwest of Kirkuk, security sources said.

“Armed group attacked, in the evening, head of police department, and his son on the road linking between Hawija and Kirkuk, killing both of them,” the source told AlSumaria News on Sunday.

Another source said an armed group also attacked “ a truck carrying head of al-Geheish tribe and his wife, while passing on the road between Hawija and Kirkuk, which left them both killed.”

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said security troops transferred the victims to forensic medicine department and conducted investigations.

Earlier on the day, security troops in Kirkuk announced applying a one-week plan to protect civilians during the celebrations of Christmas and the New Year at the province.

Violence in the country has surged further with the emergence of Islamic State Sunni extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

A total of 117 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 264 injured, excluding police, in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in November, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate, with 201 civilian casualties (51 killed, 150 injured). Salahuddin Governorate followed, with 24 killed and 60 injured, and Kirkuk had 12 killed and 28 injured.