Kurdish forces kill 5 IS suicide bombers near Iraq’s Kirkuk

KIRKUK, Iraq, May 7 (Xinhua) — Five suicide bombers affiliated with the extremist Islamic State (IS) group and two Kurdish security members were killed on Sunday in an attack on a Kurdish military base near Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk, a local security source told Xinhua.

The attack occurred at about 3:30 a.m. local time (0030 GMT) when five IS suicide bombers, wearing explosive vests, broke into the military base in northwest of Kirkuk, prompting heavy clash between the attackers and the Kurdish force, also known as Peshmerga, a Kurdish security source said on condition of anonymity.

Two suicide bombers blew up their explosive vests inside the base, while three others were shot dead by the Peshmerga fighters, the source said,

Two Kurdish fighters were also killed by the attack and six others wounded, the source said.

The attack near Kirkuk came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from their major stronghold in the western side of Mosul in northern Iraq.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the U.S., which invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003.