ISIS terrorists attacked (September 2. 2021) the Iraqi Federal police (ISS) post in Arsim Darb, the Rashad region southwest of Kirkuk. Fourteen policemen were killed. Several roadside IEDs were activated against a rescue force. There was also a heavy exchange of fire with the rescue force. Three members of the force were killed. ISIS operatives retreated while Iraqi aircraft were trying to hit them. An Iraqi police officer reported that 14 policemen were killed in the attack, and six others were wounded. He noted that the attackers used IEDs and light and medium weapons.
Several days after the attack, ISIS’s Al-Naba’ weekly published in its 303 issue a detailed report about the incident: combined teams operated on the ground storming the post; two groups blocked supply routes to the area destroying a few Humvees; a third group attacked the police post, while a fourth group ambushed those who fled the scene.
Local social network activists criticized the lack of support to the police force during the incidents despite heavy casualties.
ISIS perpetrated several attacks in the Kirkuk area in late August and early September:
- On September 2. 2021, an SSI post was attacked in southwest Daquq. No casualties were reported;
- On September 1. 2021, an IED targeted a Tribal Mobilization (alHashed alAshaeri الحشد العشائري) vehicle in the Sarkaran region about 50 km northwest of Kirkuk.
- On August 30. 2021, ISIS targeted Tribal Mobilization fighters in a village in the Daquq region. After the attack, ISIS operatives stormed the village, set fire to the house of a Tribal Mobilization fighter, caused heavy damage to houses and property, and destroyed four thermal cameras. They also burned and damaged eight tribal mobilization vehicles.
Data extracted from weekly infographic of worldwide attacks published by ISIS (Al-Nabaa.’ weekly no. 303) summing up its “weekly harvest” (September 1 – September 8) reveals that the most significant number of attacks was carried out in Iraq (24 from a total of 28) in several provinces (Al-Anbar, Diyala, Nineveh, Babel, Salah al-Din).
