Governor: Terrorists entered Kirkuk in past two days, received help from sleeper cells
In a message sent out live on Rudaw TV Saturday morning, Governor of Kirkuk Najmaldin Karim said that ISIS militants launched a “well-planned” wide terrorist attack on his city on Friday.
Karim said that the attack was carried out by 35-50 terrorists “who split into subgroups and spread out in different parts of the city.”
He said the terrorists “managed to enter the city in the last two days and their aim was to take control of the governorate building, some police headquarters and political party headquarters.”
“We had prior knowledge that an operation like this could happen,” the governor said.
Karim said that the attack was carried out by 35-50 terrorists “who split into subgroups and spread out in different parts of the city.”
He said the terrorists “managed to enter the city in the last two days and their aim was to take control of the governorate building, some police headquarters and political party headquarters.”
“We had prior knowledge that an operation like this could happen,” the governor said.
He added that the security forces had been preparing to respond to this type of attack for some time “but the timing of it was not known exactly,”
The militants failed to take any of the places they had planned to overrun, said Karim.
The militants failed to take any of the places they had planned to overrun, said Karim.
“And all those who tried to take control of those places were killed by our security forces,” he maintained.