Four Iraqi soldiers killed in ISIS ambush in Kirkuk

BAGHDAD – Four Iraqi soldiers were killed, and three others injured on Wednesday in an attack by ISIS militants in Kirkuk governorate, according to the Ministry of Interior.

“At 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, a unit from the 42nd Brigade’s Intelligence Division of the 11th Division was ambushed during a reconnaissance and search mission in the Zaghayton Valley, within the Kirkuk Operations Command sector,” Brigadier General Miqdad Miri, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior and the Security Media Cell, said in a statement.

The Zaghayton Valley is located southeast of Hawija district in western Kirkuk governorate, northern Iraq.

Miri added that the ambush resulted in the “martyrdom of four soldiers and the injury of three others with varying degrees of severity.”

The statement noted that additional forces were deployed to the area, surrounding the terrorist group. Air support was provided, and the division commander was present at the scene. “A fact-finding committee has been formed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident,” Miri confirmed.

Despite being declared defeated in Iraq in 2017, ISIS remnants continue to operate in rural and less secure areas like Kirkuk. The group exploits security gaps in the region to carry out attacks and maintain its presence. Iraqi security forces, alongside Peshmerga forces, conduct regular operations to target these remaining cells.