Daesh kills 20 Hashd fighters in Kirkuk: Iraq officials

By Ali Mukarrem Garip

KIRKUK, Iraq - Daesh terrorists executed 20 Hashd al-Shaabi fighters captured earlier in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province, local police sources said Monday.

“Daesh killed all the Hashd al-Shaabi fighters who had been captured earlier following clashes,” Afrasyav Qamil, a spokesman for the Kirkuk Police Directorate, told Anadolu Agency.

A largely Shia fighting force, the Hashd al-Shaabi was incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces in 2016.

According to Qamil, the bodies of 20 slain Hashd fighters were found by Iraqi security forces who arrived in the area in the wake of the clashes.

Noting that the Hashd fighters had been "brutally" killed, Qamil pointed out that the terrorist group had also managed to capture several military vehicles and large amounts of ammunition.

In a statement issued earlier Monday, Qamil had reported that “fierce clashes” had erupted between Daesh terrorists and Hashd fighters in the village of Saduniye in southern Kirkuk.

At least 17 Hashd fighters were killed in the fray, he said, while another 20 were captured by the terrorist group.

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh’s military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled.

Nevertheless, it appears that the group still maintains “sleeper cells” in several parts of the country, including the oil-rich Kirkuk province.