KIRKUK: Security forces battled for a second day Saturday with Islamic State gunmen who infiltrated Kirkuk in a brazen raid that rattled Iraq as it ramped up an offensive to retake Mosul.
A day after the shock attack on the Kurdish-controlled city, jihadist snipers and suspected suicide bombers were still at large, prompting Baghdad to send reinforcements.
Special counter-terrorism and intelligence units were hunting down some of the dozens of IS fighters who stormed public buildings in the early hours of Friday.
“We have 46 dead and 133 wounded, most of them members of the security services, as result of the clashes with Daesh (IS),” an interior ministry brigadier general told AFP.
The toll was confirmed by a source at the Kirkuk health directorate, which called for blood donations to assist with the emergency.
The brigadier general said at least 25 jihadist attackers had been killed so far and several others wounded, including a Libyan believed to be among the raid’s leaders.
The large-scale “inghimasi” attack, a term describing jihadist operations in which gunmen, often wearing suicide vests, intend to sow chaos and fight to the death rather than achieve any military goal, caught Kirkuk off guard.
The large city, which lies in an oil-producing region some 240 kilometres (150 miles) north of Baghdad, woke up on Friday to find jihadists roaming the streets of several neighbourhoods.
