Attacks, 'unjustified' arrests mar security in southern Kirkuk

Security forces continue to be targeted in rural areas of Iraq’s Kirkuk region as locals complain of "unjustified" arrests and yet another alleged Islamic State "mufti" has been caught amid scant reporting on the ground.
Iraqi Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilisation units, fighting alongside Iraqi forces, head to the Makhoul mountains, north of Baiji, during a military operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists on October 17, 2015. After recapturing parts of Baiji and the huge nearby refinery complex from the Islamic State group, security and allied paramilitary forces thrust further northward up the main highway leading to Mosul. AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit shoul
Iraqi Shiite fighters from the Popular Mobilization units, fighting alongside Iraqi forces, head to the Makhoul Mountains, north of Baiji, during a military operation against Islamic State jihadists on Oct. 17, 2015. - AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images
Shelly Kittleson.jpg
Shelly Kittleson
@shellykittleson

Arrests and attacks continued in early October in parts of Iraq’s oil-rich Kirkuk region amid conflicting reports about airstrikes and mass round-up operations.

An Oct. 5 attack allegedly by the Islamic State on Iraqi federal police in Hawija in the southwestern part of the region left four dead and three wounded, including an officer, the Iraqi Security Media Cell reported.

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