Iraqi federal policeman killed in ISIS militants attack near Kirkuk

An Iraqi federal police officer was killed and four others wounded on Monday evening in an attack attributed to Islamic State (ISIS) militants on a security checkpoint in the Hawija district of Kirkuk province, northern Iraq.

The slain officer was identified as Bakr Majid Muhammad. He served with the 3rd Battalion of the 9th Brigade of the Federal Police. The attack targeted a position in the Al-Bargiliya–Al-Danadish area (also referred to near Al-Bu Ghalia), southwest of Kirkuk, according to security sources and local reports.

Attackers used semi-automatic weapons and sniper fire. They also destroyed several thermal surveillance cameras at the site that were used to monitor residual ISIS activity in the area. The four wounded officers were taken to hospital for treatment; their injuries varied in severity.

Security forces quickly sealed off the area and launched search-and-sweep operations in the surrounding countryside to pursue the attackers. No group has publicly claimed responsibility, but Iraqi security and military sources attributed the assault to ISIS militants, who continue to maintain sleeper cells in the region.

The incident marks the first reported ISIS attack on Iraqi security forces since U.S. troops completed their withdrawal from Iraq on September 30, 2026, ending the formal military mission. Hawija and parts of Kirkuk have seen sporadic ISIS attacks in recent years despite the territorial defeat of the group’s self-declared caliphate nearly a decade ago.