Islamic State attack kills 10 policemen near Iraq’s Kirkuk

KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) – Islamic State militants killed 10 Iraqi policemen and wounded four during an overnight attack on a guard post near the city of Kirkuk, police sources said on Sunday.

Police sources said the attackers clashed for two hours with police stationed at a village in the town of Rashad, 30 km (18 miles) southwest of northern city of Kirkuk. Militants used roadside bombs to prevent police reinforcements from reaching the post, destroying three police vehicles, police sources said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamic State militants are active in the area and a security source said they were involved. Separately, at least three Iraqi soldiers were killed and one was wounded on Sunday when gunmen attacked an army checkpoint southeast of the Iraqi city of Mosul, security sources said.

Despite the defeat of the Islamic State militant group in 2017, remnants of the group switched to hit-and-run attacks against government forces in different parts of Iraq.