5 killed, 20 wounded in IS mortar attack in northern Iraq

A total of five civilians were killed and 20 people were wounded overnight on Saturday in a mortar attack by Islamic State (IS) terrorists in Iraq’s northern province of Kirkuk, a security official said.

The incident took place on late Saturday when the extremist IS militants fired mortar rounds on a football field in the village of Zain al-Abidin outside the town of Daquq in the south of the city of Kirkuk, 250 km north of Baghdad, Ammar al-Jubouri from Kirkuk provincial police said.

Al-Jubouri added that five civilians were killed in the attack, including two brothers aged between 10 and 13 years old, while 20 others were wounded, including security personnel.

Following the mortar attack, the IS militants waged an attack with assault rifles and machine guns outside the shrine of Imam Zain al-Abidin, but the security forces and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces fighters repelled the attack, al-Jubouri added.

The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS terrorists across the country late in 2017.

IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent hit-and-run attacks against security forces and civilians.