Roadside bomb kills Iraqi army brigadier and soldier near Kirkuk

Right · 2A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army vehicle killed an army brigadier and a soldier near the northern city of Kirkuk on Wednesday 14 October, the Iraqi military said. 1 2 Right · 2According to a military statement, the bomb struck an army patrol conducting a search operation at an Islamic State hideout, about 80 km (50 miles) south of Kirkuk, that Iraqi warplanes had targeted a day earlier. 1 2 Right · 1The attack also wounded two other soldiers. 1

Right · 2It was the second attack on Iraqi security forces in the area this month, following an assault on 5 October southwest of Kirkuk that Islamic State militants claimed; one federal policeman was killed and four others wounded when gunmen with machine guns and sniper rifles attacked a federal police position. 1 2 Right · 1The reports did not say who was responsible for the 14 October bomb. 1 Right · 2The bombing came weeks after US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq on 30 September, ending their military mission there. 1 2

Right · 2Iraqi officials have said Islamic State retains sleeper cells capable of hit-and-run attacks, raising concerns that the militants could exploit security gaps despite continued counter-insurgency operations. 1 2 Right · 2Supporters of pro-Iranian Iraqi militia groups celebrated the pullout, and some analysts said it could empower those groups in the spreading conflict begun by US-Israeli air strikes on Iran in February. 1 2