2 policemen killed in suicide car bombing in Iraq's Kirkuk

BAGHDAD – Two policemen were killed on Thursday in a suicide car bomb attack in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, a provincial security source said. 

The attack took place in the morning when a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a checkpoint manned by federal police at a village in Hawijah area, some 50 km southwest of the namesake provincial capital city of Kirkuk, Mostafa Abdul-Razzaq from Hawijah police told Xinhua. 

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (IS) militant group, in most cases, is responsible for such suicide attacks that target security forces and crowded places such as markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq. 

During the past months, dozens of IS militants fled their former urban strongholds in Mosul, Salahudin Province and Hawijah area in the west of Kirkuk, after the Iraqi forces cleared these areas by major anti-IS offensives. 

However, many IS remnants have resorted to hideouts in mountainous and rugged areas near the rivers of Tigris and Zab, as well as Himreen mountain range that extends to neighboring provinces of Salahudin and Diyala. 

In December 2017, Iraq officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group. 

However, militant remnants regrouped in urban and rugged areas, carrying out attacks against security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down. Enditem 
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