Peshmerga killed in overnight ISIS attack in Garmiyan area
The terrorist group attacked Peshmerga forces with sniper fire in Balga village in the Kifri sub-district of disputed Khanaqin, field commanders told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday.
A 45-year-old Peshmerga, Mohsen Hussen, was seriously injured during the attack and died on his way to hospital, a Kurdistan 24 correspondent in the area reported.
Iraqi army forces in the Gulala sub-district – the Kurdish name for Jalawla – were also attacked by the terrorist group, resulting in the injury of two soldiers, according to medics and commanders.
The area has recently witnessed a surge in ISIS activity, particularly in territories disputed between the Kurdistan Regional Government and federal Iraqi authorities as ISIS and other armed groups are able to exploit security gaps.
On May 5, ISIS targeted Bai Hassan oil field in the west of Kirkuk, killing a member of the local oil and gas forces and setting a well ablaze. A day later, an Iraqi soldier was killed in another attack in the province attributed to ISIS.
The security vacuum – referring to the lack of coordination and cooperation between Kurdish and Iraqi forces – is usually blamed for the increased attacks as well as the lack of stability in these areas, particuarly after the 2017 ouster of Kurdish forces by the Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed militias.
The Kurdistan Region’s authorities along with the anti-ISIS coalition regularly call for Iraqi-Kurdish coordination in the disputed areas, but so far, these calls have not had any tangible effects on the ground.
Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly
