25 October 2016•Update: 25 October 2016
KIRKUK
A series of simultaneous suicide attacks by Daesh rocked Kirkuk in northern Iraq on Monday, according to local security sources.
"Four suicide bombers, who were hiding in Kirkuk for several days when Daesh launched an attack against the city, blew themselves up simultaneously in four different districts," the security sources said.
"Two of the suicide bombers blew themselves up at the fourth bridge in the Baghdad road of the city downtown while the other two blew themselves up in the areas of al-Khadra and al-Sayad,” they added.
The security sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking with the media, did not give information on the number of casualties.
Five armed Daesh terrorist who were among those who attacked several areas of Kirkuk and who supported them last Friday have been arrested, according to a statement by
the security agency of Northern Iraq's Kurdish regional government.
"The security forces have eliminated terrorist elements who had hidden in the city during an operation," the statement said. On Friday night, Daesh suicide bombs struck the city center Friday night, killing 17 victims and injuring more than 40 others.
Daesh still controls the district of al-Haouija, approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of the Kirkuk’s city center in northern Iraq.
Peshmerga units control Kirkuk province inhabited by Turkmens, Kurds and Arabs.
Last week, the Iraqi army, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, launched a much-anticipated offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, that was overrun by the militant group in 2014.
Recent months have seen the Iraqi army, backed by local allies on the ground and a U.S.-led air coalition, retake much territory seized by Daesh in 2014. Nevertheless, the terrorist group remains in control of several parts of the country, including Mosul.
Reporting by Basher AL-Bayati, Idris Okuducu, Ali Mukarrem Garip; Writing by Ilker Girit
