Battle of Kirkuk (2016)

On 21 October 2016, dozens of ISIL militants and suicide bombers, supported by local sleeper cells,[1] entered Kirkuk and stormed a power station and police stations in the city, killing 18 members of security forces and power station workers, including 2–5[9] Iranian workers. The ISIL militants captured a mosque and an abandoned hotel and barricaded themselves inside.[10] Hours later, ISIL captured 2 more hotels and holed themselves in. Over 20 ISIL militants were killed,[9] as security forces recaptured most of the buildings.[2]

By the next day, ISIL forces still held parts of the Aruba District and a hotel,[7] though these were retaken later on. Government forces then began a mop-up operation to clear the city of remaining militants, with some of the latter blowing themselves as they were cornered.[11] Many local civilians had also taken up arms, hunting, capturing and killing ISIL fighters.[7]

On 23 October, several remaining ISIL attackers attempted to flee the city, with five being killed[12] and the ISIL operations leader captured by security forces.[1] On 24 October, the last ISIL fighters in Kirkuk were killed, including the raid commander Abu Qudama, a senior ISIL military figure of Hawija,[5] so that the governor of Kirkuk, Nadschmeddin Karim, could declare the city completely cleared of militants.[1] On the next day, security forces arrested Nizar Mahmud Abdul Ghani, a cousin of former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein, for having participated in the Kirkuk raid.[6]

• 2018 As-Suwayda attacks