Shafaq News / The Ministry of Peshmerga affairs commented on Saturday on attacking its forces in Kirkuk.

The Ministry said in a statement, ISIS exploited the security vacuum between the Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi army sites, and launched an attack on the 10th Infantry Brigade in the heights of Zurgazraw in the Fifth Axis.

The statement confirmed that the attack had been repelled, and that the situation is now under the Peshmerga’s control.

"The Peshmerga forces are always ready, and these cowardly terrorist acts will not destabilize the people of Kurdistan and will not undermine the stability, calm and security of the Region."

According to the statement, the Ministry said it had previously warned many times about the dangers of ISIS that exploit vacuum in the disputed areas

“We want to tell the terrorists that the Peshmerga forces will have a strong response to this cowardly attack, and we reassure the people of Kurdistan that the Region’s security and stability will always be protected.” The Statement said.

Earlier, the Counter-Terrorism Service in Kurdistan said in a statement “ISIS fighters at dawn today, Saturday launched an attack on the heights near the village of Bergen near the fifth axis of the Peshmerga forces, and on the sites of the tenth brigade.”

Earlier this morning, a security source said an armed attack by ISIS elements in the hills between Debs district and the town of Alton Kobri - Baroda - in Kirkuk, which killed seven Peshmerga fighters, including a colonel, wounded two others, and damaged a security point.

The official of the West Kirkuk axis for the Peshmerga forces, Nuri Hama Ali, revealed that about 2000 Kurdish forces had been brought to reinforce Peshmerga in Kirkuk.