ERBIL, Kurdistan - Two commanders in the Iraqi Army were killed and five others soldiers injured in an Islamic State (ISIS) near Kirkuk, Iraq’s Security Media Cell announced on Sunday.
“The terrorists at 2200 [10 pm] last night [Saturday] attacked, with light and medium weapons, a barrack belonging to the 32nd Brigade of the Eighth Division of the Iraqi army,” read the statement from the Security Media Cell.
“Two commanders were martyred; a lieutenant colonel and a second lieutenant, and three soldiers were injured,” the statement added.
The attack took place in a region in Kirkuk, disputed between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraq’s federal government. Baghdad and Erbil are still engaged in talks aimed at forming two joint brigades in the disputed areas. Earlier this year, the Iraqi defense ministry allocated a special budget for the joint brigades between Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga to fight ISIS in the 2023 budget bill.
Later on Sunday, ISIS released a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, adding that two commanders were killed, one injured, and four soldiers also wounded.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.
The militants have particularly taken shelter in a security vacuum in parts of northern Iraq that are disputed between Baghdad and Erbil, stretching across several provinces including Diyala, Salahaddin, and Kirkuk.
In December, ISIS carried out an attack on a village in western Diyala province, killing eight people and leaving three injured.
In April the global coalition to fight ISIS said there had been a drop in ISIS attacks on both sides of the border between Syria and Iraq.
Updated on June 12, 2023 at 1:31pm
