Iraqi PM sends reinforcements to embattled Kirkuk

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi ordered reinforcements to be sent to Kirkuk province earlier this morning, after Daesh militants he described as “terrorist remnants” launched a surprise attack there yesterday that has claimed 55 lives so far.

One of Daesh’s first targets was the Dibis power station, where they killed 13 staff there. The Iranian foreign ministry confirmed that four of its citizens who were working as contractors at Dibis were killed.

Daesh’s Amaq news agency said that the militant organisation was fighting in and around the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, 170 kilometres southeast of Mosul, and claimed that they had seized eight neighbourhoods in the city. Kurdish security sources said that they were currently besieging fighters in several buildings around the city.

Amaq further claimed that Daesh fighters had taken up blocking positions on the highway that connects Kirkuk with the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a further 270 kilometres south of the flashpoint.

Apart from Al-Abadi’s order for reserves to be sent to Kirkuk, Kurdish reinforcements from Erbil and Suleimaniyah were sent to Kirkuk due to the high casualties suffered by local security personnel, Al Jazeera reported.

Some Kurdish fighters who were taking part in the US-backed Mosul offensive were pulled from Khazir, about 40 kilometres northeast of Daesh-held Mosul, and sent to Kirkuk. This has raised fears that Daesh have the ability to weaken the main push against Mosul.

Kurdish security sources have told Al Jazeera that they believe approximately 70 Daesh militants are involved in the attacks.

Mosul is Daesh’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq. Iraqi forces and allied Peshmerga as well as Shia militias launched an operation to recapture Iraq’s second city last Monday. The operation is backed by a US-led coalition, both by land and by air.