Police Chief Dismisses Concerns over Kirkuk Security
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Kirkuk’s police chief denied rumors about volatile security conditions in the Iraqi city or the threat of fresh terrorist attacks there, giving an assurance that government forces are in control of the city.
In an interview with the Tasnim News Agency, Khatab Omer underscored that the city of Kirkuk is under the control of Iraqi security forces, although a few members of the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group are still present in some areas of the Kirkuk Governorate.
Dismissing concerns about widespread terrorist attacks on Kirkuk, the police chief said such rumors are part of a plot against the Iraqi nation.
Pointing to a humiliating defeat that Daesh forces suffered in an offensive on Kirkuk involving 120 suicide attackers, Omer said the remaining militants are unable to pose any threat against the city.
He also highlighted the need for security operations in the areas that have been liberated from the control of Daesh to prevent a remobilization of terrorists.
Thousands of civilians returned to Kirkuk in October 2017 after government forces pushed Kurdish militants out of the oil-rich city and established security.
Kurdish forces have been holding parts of Iraqi territory since 2014, when Daesh began an offensive across Iraq and the Kurds began fighting it and overrunning territory in the process.
