Security forces take cover during Kirkuk battle скачать в хорошем качестве

Security forces take cover during Kirkuk battle

(21 Oct 2016) Islamic State militants armed with assault rifles and explosives attacked targets in and around the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk early on Friday, in an assault that appeared aimed at diverting Iraqi security forces from a massive offensive against the IS-held city of Mosul. At least 13 workers, including four Iranians, were killed when Islamic State group militants stormed a power plant north of Kirkuk and then blew themselves up. Multiple explosions meanwhile rocked the city and gun battles were ongoing, said witnesses in Kirkuk, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were concerned for their safety. Much of the fighting was centered on a government compound in the city. They said the streets were largely deserted out of fear of militant snipers. A senior commander of Kurdish peshmerga forces said IS maintains sleeper cells in Kirkuk and the surrounding villages. Kirkuk province has absorbed hundreds of thousands of displaced people from neighbouring provinces since IS first overran wide stretches of northern and western Iraq in the summer of 2014, capturing Mosul, the country's second largest city. Iraqi and Kurdish forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition launched a multi-pronged assault this week to retake Mosul and surrounding areas from IS. The operation is the largest undertaken by the Iraqi military since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...