Two Kurdish police officers killed by ISIS in Kirkuk

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Two Kurdish police officers were killed during an ISIS attack in northern Kirkuk on Tuesday night, a security source told Kurdistan 24. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Nawzad Al, along with his driver, Mohammad Pasha, visiting a checkpoint in the Jabal Bor area of the oil-rich province, were ambushed and killed by ISIS suspects, an anonymous source confirmed to Kurdistan 24.

The Kirkuk Police Department has not officially commented on the attack, which took place near a highway leading to Sulaimani province in the Kurdistan Region, Dilan Barzan, Kurdistan 24 correspondent in Kirkuk said at the scene.

The province has seen an uptick in ISIS attacks in recent months.

At least 13 members of the security forces were killed in 2022 in the province by suspected ISIS militants.

The lack of security cooperation between Kurdish and Iraqi forces in the disputed territories, including Kirkuk, has led to an increased insurgency by the group, according to security experts and government officials. 

The Iraqi Air Force regularly conducts strikes against the suspected hideouts of the militants in remote areas.

Warning of increasing ISIS threats, Kurdistan Region officials regularly call on their Iraqi counterparts to increase security cooperation in the disputed territories, where the group has launched several low-level insurgencies against civilian and security targets.

Additional reporting by Kurdistan 24 Kirkuk Correspondent Dilan Barzan