Iraqi military denies news on Peshmerga deployment near Kirkuk
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Joint Operations Command denied on Monday news circulated about deployment of the Kurdish Peshmerga troops near Kirkuk to regain control on it.
In a statement, the command said, “some media channels circulated false news that Peshmerga troops moved toward regions in east of Kirkuk.”
“The Joint Operations Command confirms that no change with locations of both the Peshmerga or federal troops,” it said expressing astonishment at the false news that seek misleading the public.
The command warned the media channels, which posted such news, of being trapped and said it “has the right to take legal measures through coordination with the media and telecommunications authority.”
Media channels on Sunday reported that Peshmerga troops made movements after the federal forces moved toward regions in southeast of Kirkuk.
Informed military sources said on Saturday that Peshmerga received orders to be on high alert across Kurdistan.
Baghdad had declared intentions to retake areas disputed on with Erbil following the Kurdistan Region’s vote for independence from Iraq in September, urging Peshmerga to cooperate with federal troops.
Six security personnel killed, wounded in armed attack, house explosion in Kirkuk
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Six security personnel were killed and injured in a house explosion and armed attack that targeted a checkpoint in Kirkuk, security sources said.
“An armed attack launched by unidentified gunmen against a checkpoint of Tribal Mobilization Forces in al-Rashad town, south of Kirkuk, leaving one personnel killed and three others wounded,” the source told Baghdad Today website on Monday.
The victim, according to the source, was taken to forensic medicine department, while the wounded were transferred to hospital.
In related news, a federal police conscript was killed, while another was wounded as booby-trapped house exploded, west of Kirkuk.
“A booby-trapped house exploded in the evening in al-Kowaz village, west of Kirkuk,” another source told Baghdad Today. “The explosion left a police conscript killed and another wounded.”
On Sunday, a source said gunmen killed a person from al-Rashad town called Oudai Saleh Ibrahim in al-Khadraa region, indicating information that this person is a member of the town’s municipal council.