Suspected ISIS attack kills two Iraqi soldiers, wounds three others in Kirkuk

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A suspected attack of the so-called Islamic State killed at least two Iraqi soldiers and wounded three other members of the army in northern Kirkuk province on Saturday overnight, according to the military. 

The two officers were killed by ISIS militants at an army outpost in Dibis district's Talal Al-Ward village at 11:00 PM overnight, according to a statement from the Security Media Cell, the military media. 

The attack, conducted by “light weapons”, wounded three other soldiers, the press release added.

Top Iraqi military officials in the province on Sunday visited the site to investigate the incident.

The attack comes as the Iraqi forces regularly target suspected hideouts belonging to the terror group in the country’s remote areas.

The military fighter jets often announce deadly strikes against the remnants of the extremist group, whose self-proclaimed caliphate was brought down by the Iraqi and Kurdistan Region forces with the support of the international coalition against Daesh, the Arabic acronym for IS.

Despite its territorial defeat, the group is still capable of launching attacks against civilians and security forces, particularly in areas that lack security cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad.

After the ouster of Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces in the disputed territories in October 2017 by Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed militias, the so-called security vacuum has widened in those areas, according to Kurdish security officials and analysts.

Previous and current Iraqi governments had worked to establish joint Kurdish-Iraqi military brigades to be deployed in those areas, but lack of funding has stalled the progress, according to the governments.

ISIS's rapid offensive in Iraq in 2014 caused the displacement of thousands of civilians and causalities. Nearly a third of the country fell under the group’s control for at least two years before its self-styled caliphate shrunk.