Top defense delegation arrives in Kirkuk after deadly ISIS attack

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Senior members of the Iraqi Defense Ministry arrived in Kirkuk on Monday to investigate the deadly attack on a federal police unit in the province a day earlier, where at least nine members of the force were killed.

Abdul Ameer Yarallah, Iraqi Army Chief of Staff, and Qais Khalaf Al-Muhammadi, Deputy Head of Joint Operations Command, arrived in Kirkuk early Monday, according to a statement released by the ministry.

The delegation plans to investigate “the circumstances in which the terrorist incident” took place.

At least nine members of the Iraqi federal police were killed in an ISIS ambush in southern Kirkuk on Sunday, marking one of the deadliest attacks by the terror group whose self-proclaimed caliphate was toppled by the coordinated efforts of Kurdish and Iraqi forces in 2017.

Read More: Nine Iraqi police killed in suspected ISIS ambush in Kirkuk

In late November, four Iraqi soldiers were killed in an outpost in southern Kirkuk. An intelligence officer was later removed due to negligence.

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

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