Details on arrested teenager who wore suicide vest in Kirkuk

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Kurdish security arrested a 15-year-old teenager in Kirkuk who wrapped himself in a suicide vest, a police source confirmed on Monday.

On Sunday evening, police and security forces of Kirkuk Province, Kurdistan Region arrested an Arab boy clad in a suicide vest intending to detonate the explosive in the neighborhood of Tis’een.

The General Director of Kirkuk Police Forces Khattab Omar delivered updates on the teenager during a press conference on Monday morning.

The Director revealed that the police and security officials successfully removed the suicide vest and transferred the boy to the investigation office.

According to Omar, the teenager sent by the Islamic State (IS) was born in 2001 and is originally from Mosul.

Omar added that police and security already had information before two suicide bombers had entered Kirkuk.

He expressed his concerns about some local media and people for sharing the footage of the teenager’s arrest on TV and social media networks.

“Unfortunately, publishing the video and news immediately on television and social media doesn’t help police and security forces arrest other IS members who were behind this attempt,” Omar said.

He advised the media and the public not to reveal such cases immediately so that police and security forces can arrest all those who were behind the plot.

“When IS members see it on media or social media networks, they will immediately change their location before security arrives at their positions,” Omar added.

In the footage that Kurdistan24 published, it shows security holding the teenager’s hands up while defusing and removing the suicide vest wrapped around his body.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany