2 Iraqi intelligence members killed in Kirkuk attack

KIRKUK, Iraq, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified gunmen on Wednesday shot dead two intelligence members affiliated to the Iraqi Defense Ministry in the volatile city of Kirkuk, a local security source told Xinhua.

The attack took place in the afternoon when the gunmen opened fire on a car carrying the two intelligence members while driving on a highway in northern Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The attackers fled the scene after the attack, as the security forces began a search campaign in the area, the source said.

In mid-October, the Iraqi federal security forced took control of Kirkuk province, including its oil oilfields and military bases, after the withdrawal of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

Since then, the city witnessed attacks by gunmen against the Iraqi forces and civilians from time to time, while the western and southern part of the oil-rich Kirkuk province have been witnessing attacks by remnants of Islamic State (IS) militants.

Earlier in the day, an official from neighboring Salahudin province told Xinhua that some 200 families returned to refugee camp in Salahudin province after they left their homes in towns and villages in southwestern Kirkuk due to increasing attacks by IS militants.

Earlier, hundreds of families left refugee camps and returned to their homes in Hawijah area after the Iraqi security forces dislodged IS militants from their redoubts in Hawijah, but almost daily attacks, killings and abductions by remnants of IS militants recently pushed the families to flee their homes again, the official said.

The extremist militants are controlling the areas near the rivers Tigris and Zab and Himreen mountainous area, and are carrying out attacks on the towns and villages of Hawijah area, he added.

During the past few months, dozens of IS militants fled their former bases in Salahudin province and Hawijah area west of Kirkuk after the Iraqi forces cleared these areas during major anti-IS offensives.

On Dec. 9, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group.

However, small groups and individuals of IS militants melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas in many areas in Iraq looking for safe havens.

They are still capable of carrying out attacks from time to time against the security forces and civilians. Enditem