Kirkuk: Police, Hashd al-Shaabi members killed, wounded in IS attacks

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Two members of the Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia and the Iraqi Federal Police were killed and several others wounded in two separate Islamic State (IS) attacks in the disputed province of Kirkuk on Monday.

A security source told Baghdad-based al-Sumeriya news outlet that two IS extremists attacked a Hashd al-Shaabi checkpoint in the Hawija district, southern Kirkuk Province, killing one fighter and wounding three others.

In another incident, one member of the Iraqi Federal Police was killed, and another one was wounded during a raid on a house in a village near the al-Multaqa sub-district, southwest of Kirkuk.

A security source told al-Sumeriya the IS extremists had planted explosives in the house and detonated them after the police arrived.

In a different security incident on Sunday, unknown armed militiamen used a silenced gun to kill a member of the Rashad District Council in front of his house in Kirkuk’s al-Khadhra’ neighborhood.

Since the Oct. 16 military takeover of Kirkuk by Iraqi forces and Shia militias, assassinations, robberies, kidnappings, and other criminal activities have been on the rise.

Iraqi Vice-President Ayad Allawi, as well as senior Kurdish officials, have warned that a failure to address the security situation in Kirkuk could spark another conflict in the city.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany