Iraq blames ISIS for Kirkuk intelligence office attack

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - Iraq has blamed ISIS for an attack on its intelligence bureau in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, which wounded at least three security members.

Security say that two men, one wearing a suicide vest and a driver, approached the headquarters of the Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Directorate in the Qadisiyah neighborhood. One of the men threw a grenade towards the building and then detonated his explosive vest before entering the premises, the official said.

The second man drove away from the the scene.

ISIS sleeper cells have stepped up ambushes and terror attacks across northern Iraq in recent weeks, killing and wounding security forces.

Although the militant group did not claim responsibility, an Iraqi intelligence official told The Associated Press that the department “had knowledge that Daesh would carry out a suicide operation against the Intelligence Directorate, but we did not know on which day".

Iraqi forces and their international partners managed to beat back ISIS and declare military victory in 2017, although the group has continued to launch attacks across the country.

A US-led mission to eliminate ISIS from the region was established in 2014 after the group overran large swathes of northern and western Iraq and proclaimed the creation of a "caliphate”.

Iraqi forces and their international partners managed to beat back ISIS and declare military victory in 2017, although the group has continued to launch attacks across the country.

In recent months the US began to withdraw its troops from military bases in the country, including in Kirkuk, in line with a plan to reduce the presence of coalition forces.

At the end of March the US-led coalition against ISIS said it completed the handover of the K1 Base in Kirkuk Province to the Iraqi army.

Until last month, there were about 7,500 coalition troops in the country, including 5,000 US troops.