Anadolu Agency team under fire in Iraq's Kirkuk

By Idris Okuducu and Hemn Baban

KIRKUK, Iraq

A team of Anadolu Agency journalists came under fire in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, as they covered a Daesh assault on the city on Saturday.

Reporter Hemn Baban, photographer Yunus Keles and video cameraman Ihsan Muhammed were following a military convoy when they came under sniper fire.

“We were following the security forces when the Daesh attack started,” Baban said. In footage shot by the team, Iraqi soldiers returned fire from armored vehicles.

Keles added: “We found ourselves in the middle of a conflict. We took shelter behind the vehicles and could hear the bullets hit the walls around us.”

Daesh attacked Kirkuk on Friday in a probable attempt to draw attention from Mosul, around 170 kilometers (105 miles) to the northwest, where Iraqi forces launched a campaign to drive out Daesh on Monday.

The Anadolu Agency team was later shot at again and pinned down for nearly two hours. Although they were not injured, their car was hit and they had to call on local security forces to help them move out of danger.

Since Friday, Daesh suicide bombers and snipers have targeted anyone moving in the streets of Kirkuk. Police chief Khattab Omar said on Saturday that 48 Daesh terrorists had been killed.