Security forces gather outside a supermarket in Altun Kupri following the Sept. 27 counterterrorism operation that left several people dead and wounded.
Counter-terrorism service says two civilians killed in Altun Kupri raid
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service said Thursday that two civilians were killed during a clash with two suspected Islamic State group members in a residential area of Altun Kupri, also known as Pirde, in Kirkuk governorate, in its first account of a raid whose civilian toll has prompted a government investigation.
“A force from the service managed to pursue two terrorist elements in a residential area densely populated by civilians. One of them was wearing an explosive belt and the other was armed. They intended to carry out a terrorist act and target citizens inside the area,” the CTS said in a statement.
“While the force was carrying out its duty to prevent the terrorists, a clash occurred that resulted in the killing of one terrorist and the arrest of the other,” it said.
Two civilians were killed and four CTS personnel were wounded in the clash, the service said. “Immediately after the incident, and by order of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, a joint investigative committee was formed,” the statement said, adding that the head of the CTS had also ordered a fact-finding committee “to identify those at fault.”
The CTS expressed “deep regret” over the civilian casualties and offered condolences to the families of those killed. “The service affirms that protecting citizens and preserving their lives and safety are at the forefront of its duties,” it said, adding that it would disclose the facts and act on the investigation’s findings.
The statement did not identify the civilians or the suspects. Two local teenagers, Murad Zana, 14, and Mohammed Hemn Rahman, 15, were reported killed in the Sept. 27 raid. A member of parliament’s security committee has said the two people the service identified as Islamic State militants were in fact local civilians, and Kirkuk officials have called for a high-level investigation.
Rahman’s family said he disappeared on the night of the raid and that they searched for three days before being told his body was at Azadi Hospital. “When we arrived, we discovered that his personal identity had been changed and an identity belonging to an ISIS member had been placed in the pocket of his clothes, although the young man who was killed was only 15 years old,” said Shahab Ahmed, a relative.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has sent a high-level committee to Kirkuk to investigate the raid, giving it 72 hours to establish responsibility and ordering compensation for the families of those killed without waiting for its findings, Kirkuk Operations Commander Maj. Gen. Muad Baday Faraj said Wednesday.
Anyone found at fault will be referred to the courts regardless of rank, Faraj said. The prime minister’s office also agreed to compensate the families for material and non-material losses and to pay for businesses damaged in the operation, said Kirkuk’s first deputy governor, Rebwar Taha, with the Altun Kupri subdistrict administration assessing the property damage.