By Ali Mukarrem Garip
KIRKUK, Iraq (AA) – Members of the Daesh terrorist group killed five people and injured six others in Iraq's northern Kirkuk province, local police said early Sunday.
A mortar attack targeted al-Hashdi al-Shabi forces who were exercising in a football pitch in Kirkuk’s Dakuk district, Afsaryav Kamil, a Kirkuk police spokesman, told Anadolu Agency.
Kamil said Daesh were aiming to enter the area through the attack but were prevented by Iraq's Federal Police.
In mid-2014, Daesh overran roughly one-third of Iraq, including the northern city of Mosul.
By late 2017, the Iraqi army -- with the help of the U.S.-led military coalition -- had recovered most if not all the territories lost to the terrorist group.
Although officials in Baghdad say Daesh’s presence in the country has been largely eradicated, the terrorist group has continued to stage sporadic attacks in Iraq's Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, Saladin, and Anbar provinces.
*Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak