It is one of the deadliest offensives against the security forces since the start of the year.

A dozen members of the Iraqi federal police were killed in an attack probably perpetrated by the Islamic State group on a checkpoint near Kirkuk in northern Iraq, on the night of Saturday 4 to Sunday 5 September .

The clashes lasted two hours between forces stationed in Rachad, 30 km southwest of Kirkuk, and jihadist fighters, who used improvised explosive devices to prevent police from sending reinforcements, sources said. policewomen.

"ISIS operatives targeted a federal police checkpoint," a senior federal police officer said on condition of anonymity.

The offensive began "shortly before midnight and lasted several hours," he said. 

"There are 13 dead and three injured" on the side of the security forces, according to this officer interviewed by AFP.

A report was confirmed by a medical source in the city of Kirkuk.

Reuters only counts ten police officers killed. 

As of Sunday morning, the EI group did not claim responsibility for the attack.

Islamic State group "active" around Kirkuk

According to the senior federal police officer, "the cells of the organization (Islamic State, Editor's note) are active in the region around Kirkuk due to the absence of air support and the lack of military support".

At the end of 2017, Iraq declared its military "victory" over the Islamic State group after taking over all the major cities that the jihadists had held since 2014.

But cells continue to operate in certain areas of northern Iraq, in particular, and target the security forces.

They have reportedly intensified their attacks since the start of summer in the area.

The jihadists also claimed responsibility for the last major attack to bring mourning to Baghdad, an attack that left more than 30 dead in a market in the Shiite district of Sadr City in July.

Last Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron, visiting Iraqi Kurdistan, worried about a "resurgence" of the Islamic State organization in Iraq and Syria, explaining that French soldiers deployed in Iraq as part of the international coalition would remain in the country "whatever the American choices".

With AFP

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