Kirkuk has been strategic target for al-Qaeda, IS: Police Chief

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Kirkuk Province has been a strategic location for terrorist organizations because of its geopolitics and diverse population, said a Kirkuk top police commander on Monday.

In an interview with Kurdistan24, Kirkuk Suburban Police Chief Sarhad Qadir stated the province had been a strategic target for the Islamic State (IS) in the past two years.

He mentioned IS had conducted over 16 attacks on Peshmerga front lines from the southern and western border of the province.

However, all attempts were defeated by Peshmerga and Kirkuk security forces.

Qadir noted police had previously confiscated documents belonging to the al-Qaeda organization.

The documents revealed the terror group aimed to occupy Kirkuk due to its geopolitics, natural resources, and a diverse population consisting of different ethnic and religious groups.

According to him, there are now over 2,000 IS extremists in the neighboring city of Hawija.

“[IS] militants have prepared several vehicles laden with explosives to attack Kirkuk,” he said.

Speaking on the Hawija military operation, the Police Chief noted it was planned before the Mosul offensive but never executed.

Qadir explained the Governor of Kirkuk had requested from the federal government of Iraq to begin the operation due to IS’ threat on Kirkuk.

“The governor asked, and the Hawija operation was planned with Baghdad preparing to send an Iraqi army brigade, but the unit was not ready, then the plan changed to the Mosul operation,” he continued.

“I believe there is a political purpose behind the delay of the Hawija operation,” Qadir added.

Kirkuk is currently home to over 600,000 displaced persons who fled from other parts of Iraq due to the threat of IS.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany