Villagers repel suspected ISIS attack in eastern Kirkuk

The suspected ISIS militants retreated after almost 15 minutes of fighting, the source added.

Residents of the Kurdish-majority Mansoor village in eastern Kirkuk’s Daquq district repelled a suspected ISIS attack on Tuesday evening without suffering any causalities.

The suspected ISIS militants attacked a checkpoint near the village, a resident, who wished to stay anonymous, told Kurdistan 24.

The suspected ISIS militants retreated after almost 15 minutes of fighting, the source added.

Residents of the nearby village HaftaGhar also took up arms in case the militants also attacked them, according to the source.

Daquq lies in the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad in the oil-rich Kirkuk province.

In late 2021, ISIS militants were launching almost daily raids on the civilian and security targets in those territories, forcing civilians to flee.

This prompted Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga to increase coordination against the militants in these territories. ISIS long exploited the lack of cooperation between the ISF and Peshmerga, which resulted in a huge security vacuum in those territories.

ISIS still has remnants in remote parts of the country’s east and north. Iraqi Air Force F-16 jets regularly attack their hideouts in these areas with targeted airstrikes.