4 killed as militants storm two energy facilities in N Iraq
Militants have attacked a gas facility and an oil station near Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk, killing at least four of its employees.
In the first assault, four gunmen carrying hand grenades broke through the external door of the AB2 gas compressor station at around 0300 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) on Sunday.
According to security sources, during the attack, the militants killed four staff in a control room of the facility and planted explosives charges there, five of which went off.
Two security guards, who sustained injuries in the attack, are in critical condition, the sources said.
Forces from Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism service, however, managed to regain full control of the place and freed 15 other employees who had hidden in the facility.
Later, militants used the same strategy to enter the Bai Hassan oil station, where they blew up an oil storage tank, the sources said.
Clashes are still ongoing between the militants and security forces, while the number of casualties is not immediately clear.
The Daesh Takfiri terror group has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces have controlled Kirkuk and surrounding areas over the past two years.
The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by gruesome violence ever since Daesh terrorists launched a campaign of terror in the country in June 2014.
Iraqi government forces, backed by fighters from allied Popular Mobilization units, have been pushing the militants out of the country’s territory.
Outraged over Gaza genocide, Iraqi protesters burn Israel, US and UK flags
Iraqi resistance fighters strike ‘vital targets’ across occupied territories
US military contractor ordered to pay $42mn in Abu Ghraib torture case
‘Arab Nelson Mandela’ released after 40 years in France
VIDEO | Jordanians condemn Israel’s ban on UNRWA activities in occupied Palestine
VIDEO | Million-man march held in Yemen in support of Gaza, Lebanon
Iran says resolved to ‘legally’ pursue Gen. Soleimani assassination case
VIDEO | Outraged over Gaza genocide, Iraqi protesters burn Israel, US and UK flags
Far-right German party calls for UN probe into ‘Berlin’s role’ in Nord Stream blasts
Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ shows US debilitated, desperate: Fmr. IRGC chief
Jordan rage: Protesters blast Israel’s genocide in Gaza, carnage in Lebanon
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
