KIRKUK (Dispatches) – At least 16 Iraqi police officers have been killed in an attack by Daesh terrorist group on a security checkpoint in the country’s north.
The twin attack on Sunday, in the al-Rashad region south of Kirkuk city, took place just after midnight.
“The federal police forces clashed with Daesh terrorist gangs in the al-Rashad district of Kirkuk governorate,” read a statement of the Security Media Cell carried by Alsumaria TV network.
The attackers first engaged in a confrontation with police officers that lasted about two hours, killing three officers. Reinforcements coming to the area were killed in an ambush using explosives planted on the roadside, Abdelwahed said.
Three police officers were also wounded in the attack and another was missing.
Separately, at least three Iraqi soldiers were killed and one was wounded on Sunday when gunmen attacked an army checkpoint southeast of the Iraqi city of Mosul, security sources said.
Also on Sunday, Sabereen News, a Telegram news channel associated with Iraq’s anti-terror Hashd al-Sha’abi, said Daesh terrorists attacked positions held by Iraqi security forces in Salahuddin province, killing 13 of them and injuring two others.
Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.
Hashd al-Sha’abi played a major role in reinforcing the Iraqi army, which had suffered heavy setbacks against the Takfiri terrorists.
Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December 2017 after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign, which also had the support of neighboring Iran.
The terror outfit’s remnants, though, keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash fresh violence.