Two Iraqi children killed as bomb blast rocks Kirkuk
Kirkuk (Iraqinews.com) – Two Iraqi children were killed Tuesday in a bomb attack in al-Hawija district in oil-rich Kirkuk, a security source from the province was quoted as saying.
"Two brothers, identified as Hamad and Iyad Farahat Gomaa, were killed as an explosive charge detonated in al-Rashidiya district in Hawija, 45 km west of Kirkuk," Iraqi website Shafaaq News quoted the source as saying.
"The two bodies were moved to the forensic medicine department," the source added.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for attacks targeting crowded areas, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.
Iraqi security forces, backed by paramilitary troops of al-Hashd al-Shaabi and Peshmerga fighters, had launched a military operation dubbed Martyrs' Revenge to chase Islamic State militants at their hotbeds in Kirkuk, Diyala and Salahuddin provinces.
U.S.-led coalition warplanes kill 14 Islamic State militants in Kirkuk
Kirkuk (Iraqinews.com) – Up to 14 members of Islamic State were killed Tuesday in a series of airstrikes on Kirkuk province by the U.S.-led international coalition warplanes, a security source was quoted as saying.
"Airstrikes launched by fighter jets of the U.S.-led international coalition have targeted several terrorist hotbeds of Islamic State in northwestern Kirkuk, leaving 14 militants dead," Baghdad Post website quoted the source.
The source added that the airstrikes "were carried out in coordination with Iraqi intelligence agencies."
Iraqi police commander killed in bomb blast in Kirkuk
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) An Iraqi police commander was killed when a roadside bomb hit his convoy in Kirkuk province, north of the country, a security source was quoted saying on Tuesday.
The source told Alsumaria News that a Federal Police force was on a search mission in Albu-Najm village, Daquq, south of Kirkuk, when an explosive device went off, killing commander of the 1st regiment of the 16th brigade of the Iraqi police force.
Kirkuk has seen occasional bloody attacks against civilians and security forces since Iraqi forces drove out Kurdish troops following the political standoff resulting from the referendum in which Kurdistan Region voted for independence from Iraq. Most of the attacks have been claimed by Islamic State militants, which, the Iraqi government had said, lost its bastions in Iraq late 2017.
Iraqi premier Haider al-Abadi had ordered military operations in Kirkuk in retaliation for the execution of eight Iraqis by Islamic State militants at the province last month.
The militants had posted a video threatening the execution of the victims if Iraqi authorities to not free female detainees affiliated with the group. The abductee' corpses were later found outside Kirkuk.