Islamic State group ambush kills four Iraqi soldiers near Kirkuk

PHOTO CAPTION: An Iraqi service member  fires from a barrier on a live-fire range at Taji Military Complex, Iraq, Dec. 16, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Alec Dionne via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four Iraqi soldiers were killed and three injured on Wednesday in an ambush by Islamic State militants on an army convoy near the northern oil city of Kirkuk, a military statement said.

The ambush took place in a rural area southwest of Kirkuk that remains a hotbed of activity for militant cells years after Iraq declared final victory over the jihadist group in 2017.

After the defeat of Islamic State (IS) as a force able to hold swathes of territory, remnants switched to hit-and-run attacks on government forces in different areas of Iraq.

Two military officials said security forces were heading to the area around 45 km (28 miles) southwest of Kirkuk to arrest a suspected militant when they came under sniper and automatic weapons fire.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the military statement blamed it on IS militants.



(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; editing by Mark Heinrich)