KIRKUK: Three Iraqi soldiers were killed and four others wounded Sunday in a pre-dawn attack in the country’s north blamed on the Daesh group, a military official said.
The assailants used automatic weapons in the attack on their barracks in Wadi Al-Naft, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of the city of Kirkuk, the official said on condition of anonymity.
“Three soldiers, including two officers, were killed, and four other soldiers were wounded,” the official told AFP. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The attack occurred in an area disputed between Iraq’s federal government, which holds Kirkuk, and the country’s autonomous northern region of Kurdistan.
Daesh extremists seized swathes of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014, declaring a “caliphate” which they ruled with brutality before their defeat in late 2017 by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led military coalition.
Despite the setbacks, the extremist group can still call on an underground network of fighters to carry out attacks on both sides of the porous border, the United Nations says.
In April, the international coalition set up to fight the Sunni Muslim extremists said there had been a reduction in Daesh attacks in both Iraq and Syria.
In March, a senior Iraqi military official said Daesh had between 400 and 500 active fighters in the Shiite-majority country.
Daesh group kill three Iraq soldiers: military official
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Daesh group kill three Iraq soldiers: military official
- The attack occurred in an area disputed between Iraq’s federal government, which holds Kirkuk, and the country’s autonomous northern region of Kurdistan
Syrian Democratic Forces withdraws from east of Aleppo
RIYADH: Syrian Democratic Forces have withdrawn from positions east of Aleppo, according to SDF head Mazloum Abdi.
He announced Friday that SDF will withdraw from east of Aleppo at 7 AM local time on Saturday and redeploy them to areas east of the Euphrates, citing calls from friendly countries and mediators.
Hours earlier, a U.S. military designation had visited Deir Hafer and met with SDF officials in an apparent attempt to tamp down tensions.
The U.S. has good relations with both sides and has urged calm. A spokesperson for the U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shortly before Abdi’s announcement, interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa had announced issuance of a decree strengthening Kurdish rights.
A wave of displacement
Earlier in the day, hundreds of people carrying their belongings arrived in government-held areas in northern Syria ahead of the anticipated offensive by Syrian troops on territory held by Kurdish-led fighters.
Many of the civilians who fled were seen using side roads to reach government-held areas because the main highway was blocked at a checkpoint in the town of Deir Hafer controlled by the SDF.
The Syrian army said late Wednesday that civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and then extended the evacuation period another day, saying the SDF had stopped civilians from leaving.
There had been limited exchanges of fire between the two sides in the area before that.
Men, women and children arrived on the government side of the line in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes, mattresses and other belongings. They were met by local officials who directed them to shelters.
* with input from Reuters, AP
