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KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region – The deputy head of the Kirkuk’s state-run North Gas Company (NGC) and a company's employee were killed Tuesday morning by unidentified gunmen in the city of Kirkuk in an apparent “terrorist” attack.
Mohammed Younis Salih, father of three, who was also head of the NGC sports club was on his way to work this morning as armed men opened fire on his car. He and the unnamed employee were shot multiple times.
The incident happened near the company’s headquarters in Wahid Huzeyran area outside the city.
A member of the Kikruk security forces who was manning a nearby checkpoint at the time said that he saw a black car believed to be a BMW leaving the area in high speed after he heard the gunshots.
Forensic teams have been seen at the scene.
There are numerous and different security institutions in Kirkuk, many under the control of the Kurdish security forces.
The spokesperson for the Kirkuk Asayish of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Farhad Hama Ali, described the incident a ‘terrorist attack” in a press conference held following the incident.
He added that since the ISIS group is still present in Hawija, a town some 55 km southwest of Kirkuk, there are numerous security forces in the city which means more guns on the streets, and that there are hundreds of thousands of Iraqi displaced people, incidents like this are still likely.
The sports club has published a statement, condemning what they described a "terrorist attack" while calling on the security institutions to find the perpetrators.
In the last two months, the Asayish official revealed, their forces have been able to capture 90 terrorists, criminals or people who were wanted by the courts.
Of these numbers, “29 were terrorists, of whom 12 were ISIS militants who fought against the Peshmerga and the security forces,” in Kikruk.
One senior security officer told Rudaw that the attackers may have tracked the NGC official out of the city, attacking him only on the less-frequented road.
Note: an earlier version of the story described the unnamed employee as Salih's bodyguard.
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