Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism foils IS attack in western Kirkuk

The Kurdistan Region’s Department of Counter-Terrorism on Saturday revealed they had foiled an Islamic State (IS) attack planned in western Kirkuk.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Region’s Department of Counter-Terrorism on Saturday revealed they had foiled an Islamic State (IS) attack planned in western Kirkuk.

In a statement, the Kurdistan Region Security Council’s (KRSC) Counter-Terrorism Department said they foiled IS’ plans to launch “terror attacks” in the Kirkuk area.

The statement added that after investigations and monitoring, Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Forces launched an operation in Bajwan and Msherfa villages in western Kirkuk on Feb. 23 leading to the arrest of a “terrorist” named Azaddin Jum’a Jasm.

The Counter-Terrorism Forces also found IS’ weapon’s supply cache where the insurgents were prepared to launch terror attacks from in the area, the statement read.

Moreover, the Counter-Terrorism Department’s engineering team confiscated bombs and explosives, the report concluded.

Recently, the Kurdistan Region Security Forces arrested dozens of IS insurgents in the Region for links to the extremist group.

On Feb. 11, the Erbil Security (Asayish) said their forces were able to locate and arrest five suspects linked to the militant group who had plans to join IS in the city of Hawija in western Kirkuk.

Erbil Asayish revealed the identity and photos of the IS extremists as Hawar Yousif Abulkareem, Halmat Omer Othman, Hani Ibrahim Rasheed, Farhang Abbas Abdulrahman, and Abdulla Baqi Abdulla.

The KRSC also released the confessions of the five Kurdish IS members arrested by the Region’s security forces in February.

On Jan. 31, the KRSC announced the arrest of several IS members who were planning an attack in the city of Kirkuk.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany