Three soldiers wounded by explosive device while inspecting struck sites in Kirkuk

KIRKUK — Three Iraqi Army personnel, two of them officers, were wounded on Tuesday when an explosive device detonated as they searched sites in Wadi al-Shay, southwest of Daquq, that army aviation had struck earlier, a security source told 964media.

“The 44th Brigade of the 11th Division carried out a reconnaissance operation at sites inside Wadi al-Shay after those sites were struck by army aviation,” the source said. “An explosive device detonated during the operation, wounding three Iraqi Army personnel.” The three serve with the brigade’s 1st Battalion under Kirkuk Operations Command and were taken to Daquq General Hospital.

It is the second time in five weeks that Iraqi forces have taken casualties inspecting sites hit in earlier strikes. A Counter-Terrorism Service officer was killed in early July in a clash with militants while checking sites struck in previous raids north of Kirkuk.

Iraqi aircraft destroyed eight Islamic State hideouts in Kirkuk governorate on Monday, the fourth operation against the group in the area in about five weeks. In December, the Joint Operations Command said F-16s had destroyed an important Islamic State hideout in Wadi al-Shay.

The Islamic State group seized large parts of northern and western Iraq in 2014 before Iraqi forces declared its territorial defeat in 2017. It has since operated through sleeper cells and small units, particularly in desert and rural areas.