Daesh/ISIS attack kills 15 policemen in Iraq’s Kirkuk

BAGHDAD

At least 15 Iraqi policemen were killed in a suspected Daesh/ISIS attack in the northern Kirkuk province on Sunday, according to Iraqi authorities.

Gunmen attacked a federal police checkpoint in the town of Satiha in al-Rashad district southwest of Kirkuk, killing 15 policemen, the Kirkuk Police Department said in a statement.

The attackers, believed to belong to the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group, fled the scene unscathed.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

On Saturday, another attack targeted a federal police checkpoint in Kirkuk, killing at least five policemen.

Daesh/ISIS terrorists have in recent months escalated their attacks, especially in the area between Kirkuk, Salahuddin, and Diyala, known as the Triangle of Death.

In 2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh/ISIS by reclaiming all territories the terrorist group controlled since the summer of 2014, which was estimated to be about a third of the country’s territory.

The group, however, still maintains sleeper cells in large areas in Iraq and occasionally launches sporadic attacks.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara