IS-rigged donkey detonates prematurely, kills 3 militants

Three Islamic State (IS) members were killed and five others injured after a donkey they had rigged with explosives detonated prematurely on Wednesday west of Kirkuk.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Three Islamic State (IS) members were killed and five others injured after a donkey they had rigged with explosives detonated prematurely on Wednesday west of Kirkuk.

Local Iraqi media claimed the blast occurred in the town of Rashad, near the IS-held city of Hawija.

According to reports, several IS militants had stolen the donkey and were rigging it with explosives in an attempt to attack security forces stationed in the Hamrin mountain range.

Security officials on the Kirkuk front lines have warned IS has moved many of its remaining forces to Hawija and the Hamrin mountain area after their defeat in their stronghold of Mosul.

“They use animals to avoid militants being targeted by Iraqi and coalition warplanes,” a security source told Al Sumaria. “It is not the first time the jihadists use animals to target ground forces.”

Another security source told Kurdistan 24 the explosive device was designed in the form of two wire-tied bombs and a mobile phone chip for remote detonation.  

Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim has often called on the Federal Government of Iraq to accelerate plans to liberate the city of Hawija located in western Kirkuk Province.

Karim has previously underlined Hawija poses a serious security threat on the province which is home to over half a million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

IS has frequently carried out attacks against Peshmerga forces stationed in the area.

The use of donkeys as weapons has been used in similar operations in Iraq and Syria over the past few years.

In the summer of 2014, security services dismantled explosives placed on a donkey’s back in the town of Mansouryah, 35 kilometers east of Baquba in the province of Diyala.

In 2015, Kurdish forces rescued a rigged mule on the road linking the cities of Mabrouka in the province of Hasakah and Tal Abyad in the Raqqa Province in northern Syria.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany