The incident occurred at a guard post south of the Altun Kupri (Pirde) checkpoint, the Iraqi Security Media Center announced in a statement that confirmed the casualties.
The Iraqi authorities said they would later release more information.
Graphic: Sarkawt Mohammed/ RudawSpeaking to two villagers and a federal police officer stationed in the area, Rudaw’s correspondent in Kirkuk, Hardi Mohammed, reported the attack occurred at 10:22 p.m. near Kalwor village.
The guard post is 100 meters away from the critical road and it is near the former Erbil-Kirkuk customs point.
A group of armed men descended from the nearby Kani Domalan mountain range and attacked the federal police, locals detailed. Gunshots were heard by the local villagers for 30-40 minutes. Light weapons were said to be used. They then retreated via the same route.
The villagers of Kalwor said they were told by Iraqi forces not to leave their homes due to the precarious situation. Other forces have gone to the mountain range to chase the assailants, the local correspondent added.
Yahya Rasul, the spokesperson for Iraq’s Ministry of Defense, announced the results of “clearing operations” in Saladin and al-Jazira operations on Monday.
He tweeted that 13 ISIS members have been killed, 18 “dens’ have been destroyed, and five vehicles have been destroyed.
The Islamic State (ISIS) hasn’t claimed the responsibility for the attack on the Erbil-Kirkuk road. Its media did claim an IED attack on a federal police officer on Monday in Abdulkarim Nassir village in the central province of Diyala.
The Erbil-Kirkuk road is a critical transportation lane that links the Kurdistan Region to central Iraq and parts of Iran. It is also used to transport goods coming mainly from the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Turkey.
The Erbil-Kirkuk-Sulaimani road is the most direct and up-to-date.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, appeared in a video on April 29 vowing to continue their fight through insurgency-style, hit-and-run tactics.
Since the announcement of the defeat of ISIS in Iraq at the end of 2017, ISIS has resorted to assassinations, kidnapping and IED attacks.
It has particularly made use of a security vacuum between Iraqi and Peshmerga forces in disputed territories.
