Erbil, Kurdistan Region - At least one member of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) was killed and another wounded in what the group described as a "terrorist attack" in the northern Kirkuk province on Thursday.
“Ali Bahjat Hamid, a member of the 16th Brigade, was killed in an armed terrorist attack targeting a brigade checkpoint at 2:00 am [local time] in the Altun Kupri [Prde] district of Kirkuk," the PMF said in a statement.
The 16th Brigade is a unit that primarily comprises members of Iraq's Turkmen community.
Another PMF member, Junaid Ismat Bahjat, was wounded in the attack and "transferred to a hospital for treatment," the statement added, noting that "the relevant authorities are continuing their investigation to determine the circumstances of the attack and identify those responsible."
Colonel Amer Nuri, spokesperson for Kirkuk Police Command, told Rudaw that “an assailant riding a motorcycle opened fire” at the 16th Brigade checkpoint, noting that “the identity of the attacker has not yet been determined and no arrests have been made thus far.”
Rudaw’s reporter on the ground, Hiwa Hussamadin, said the assailant “fired more than nine bullets at the checkpoint,” adding that a “large number of security forces had been deployed to Prde” with temporary checkpoints set up on roads connecting the district to surrounding areas.
The district's entrances have also been closed as house-to-house searches are underway, Hussamadin added.
Prde falls administratively within Dibis district, northwest of Kirkuk, some 40 kilometers from Kirkuk city and 50 kilometers from Erbil, the Kurdistan Region's capital. It is home to both Kurdish and Turkmen communities and is among the disputed territories between federal and regional authorities.
While no group has claimed responsibility, disputed territories have long been vulnerable to attacks by Islamic State (ISIS) remnants. Despite the group's territorial defeat in 2017, its sleeper cells continue to carry out sporadic operations in security gaps along those areas’ borders, including abductions, hit-and-run attacks, and bombings.
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