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| ISIS Launches Surprise Attack on Kirkuk, Killing Top Kurdish Commander | ISIS Launches Surprise Attack on Kirkuk, Killing Top Kurdish Commander |
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| BAGHDAD — Exploiting a foggy night as cover, Islamic State militants launched a surprise attack on Kurdish positions on the outskirts of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk early Friday, killing a senior Kurdish commander and at least five of his men, security officials in the city said. | |
| The assault was one of the most aggressive undertaken against Kirkuk in recent weeks by the Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group that straddles a large stretch of Iraq and Syria. | |
| Families fled their homes as the fighting intensified, and at one point, the militants stormed an abandoned hotel in the Kirkuk city center. After calling in emergency reinforcements from Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdish fighters, backed by airstrikes, killed dozens of militants and eventually repelled the attack, officials said. | Families fled their homes as the fighting intensified, and at one point, the militants stormed an abandoned hotel in the Kirkuk city center. After calling in emergency reinforcements from Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdish fighters, backed by airstrikes, killed dozens of militants and eventually repelled the attack, officials said. |
| Even so, the foray by the Islamic State fighters underscored the group's strength and audacity, as well as its determination to capture Kirkuk, an oil-rich city that is seen as vitally important by Kurdish leaders. | Even so, the foray by the Islamic State fighters underscored the group's strength and audacity, as well as its determination to capture Kirkuk, an oil-rich city that is seen as vitally important by Kurdish leaders. |
| The United Nations announced on Friday that it was withdrawing its foreign staff from Kirkuk and sending it north to Erbil because of the “rapid deterioration in security,” according to The Associated Press. | |
| Security officials said the militants had used armored vehicles and deployed car bombs as they attacked positions of Kurdish militia fighters, known as pesh merga, from the east and south of the city early Friday. A pesh merga commander, Brig. Gen. Shirko Fatih, who led the First Brigade, was killed along with five of his soldiers, the officials said. | |
| Later in the day, militants from the group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, attacked the abandoned hotel inside the city with a car bomb. A security official in Kirkuk said three Islamic State fighters had infiltrated the hotel, reaching its roof. Kurdish troops and local police officers stormed the hotel, killing the militants, the A.P. reported. | Later in the day, militants from the group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, attacked the abandoned hotel inside the city with a car bomb. A security official in Kirkuk said three Islamic State fighters had infiltrated the hotel, reaching its roof. Kurdish troops and local police officers stormed the hotel, killing the militants, the A.P. reported. |