Chaos, uncertainty linger in Kakai village after IS attack

KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Islamic State (IS) militants launched a late-night suicide attack on the town of Daquq in southern Kirkuk, security sources reported on Thursday.

A Peshmerga source told Kurdistan 24 several armed men under cover of night targeted the village of Liheb, a Kakai Kurdish-majority town, resulting in at least four casualties and several injuries.

As with any attack in the province of Kirkuk and surrounding areas, there were conflicting reports regarding the number of casualties.

Another source claimed there were Arab and women among the victims, while local media reported higher numbers of civilian casualties.

Other sources said the gunmen stormed one of the houses in the village before carrying out the murders and kidnapping residents.

The Kakais are an ethnoreligious minority whose villages surround the town of Daquq and span between areas controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and those controlled by IS militants.

The minority has been targeted by the extremist group since it emerged in northern Iraq in 2014 and many have fled to areas near Kirkuk and in the Nineveh Plains.

Daquq is only a few kilometers south of Hawija, one of IS’ remaining strongholds in Iraq.

The militants regularly launch attacks in areas in the Kirkuk Province but have not been able to break through Peshmerga frontlines.

The Governor of Kirkuk Najmaldin Karim has repeatedly stated the presence of the militant group in Hawija located on the west of Kirkuk has put the province under continuous security threat.

Karim has urged the Federal Government of Iraq to stop postponing the military operation to liberate Hawija.

The city has been under the control of IS since June 2014, where the extremist group currently holds nearly 250,000 civilians in the city and surrounding areas hostage.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany