ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Kurdish policeman in Kirkuk was found beheaded on Sunday morning in what his family believe to be a “terror-related incident.”
The body of Bahjat Anwar, a father-of-five and member of Kirkuk's police force was discovered in his vehicle in the city's Askari neighbourhood.
Anwar's son Hussein Bahjat said he was unable to reach his father on three of his mobile phones after he left to repair his car on Saturday afternoon.
A number of knife wounds was found on his body, his brother Awad Anwar told Rudaw, adding that he had money and phones on his person at the time.
“He appears to have defended himself because there are knife cuts on his hand. He defended himself. They broke his fingers,” his brother recounted.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the killing, Anwar believes that is “terror-related.”
Local authorities have now launched an investigation into the incident.
Kirkuk falls within the territories disputed by Erbil and Baghdad. Remnants of the Islamic State terror group (ISIS) have recently increased their attacks in the area amid a growing security vacuum.
Islamic State militants stormed the headquarters of the Iraqi counter-terrorism and intelligence directorate in late April, the fourth attack in the space of a month.
Just days before, the US-led coalition to defeat ISIS launched an attack on a number of ISIS hideouts south of Kirkuk.
Although declared territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017, ISIS militants have continued to launch attacks in both Iraq and Syria, which have increased in recent months.
Members of both Iraqi and Kurdish security forces are especially vulnerable to attack, including kidnap and extortion.
Reporting by Hardi Mohammed
Translation by Zhelwan Z.Wali
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