ISIS member killed, another injured in clash with Asayish in Kirkuk

Shafaq News/ The Asayish Security Service in the Kurdistan Region reported on Sunday that an ISIS member was killed and another was injured in a clash during an attempt to arrest them in the Qara Hanjir district, east of Kirkuk.

The Asayish said in a statement, “At 8:00 am, the forces of the Kurdistan Region Security Agency (Asayish) in Kirkuk Governorate clashed in the Qara Hanjir district with ISIS militants, which led to the killing of a terrorist, while another terrorist was wounded.”

The statement explained that the ISIS militants had gone to the area to carry out terrorist acts and had killed at least four members of the police.

ISIS has been a persistent threat in Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic region in northern Iraq. Despite losing territorial control in Iraq in 2017, ISIS remnants continue to operate in rural and mountainous areas, conducting attacks against civilians and security forces.

Kirkuk is considered a disputed area, with competing claims from the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. This dispute has led to a lack of cohesive security measures and the presence of many security vacuums—areas where neither side exerts full control.

ISIS and other militant groups exploit these vacuums to carry out attacks and establish hideouts.

Security forces, including the Asayish, Iraqi Army, and the Popular Mobilization Forces, regularly engage in operations to thwart ISIS activities and prevent the group from destabilizing the area.