Battle for Mosul: Islamic State launches counter attack in Kirkuk
Suicide bombers and gunmen struck in an attack seen as an attempt to divert government forces marching on their stronghold.
Friday 21 October 2016 16:11, UK
Heavily armed Islamic State fighters have launched an attack on the city of Kirkuk as Iraqi troops advance on the city of Mosul.
The counter-attack in northern Iraq has left at least 22 people dead after a police compound, government buildings and a power station were targeted.
It is being seen as an attempt to divert government forces who are on a mission to free Mosul from IS control.
Witnesses saw jihadist fighters with scarves wrapped around their heads walking down the street, carrying rifles and grenades.
At least five suicide bombers targeted several government buildings across Kirkuk, which is 105 miles (170km) southeast of Mosul.
According to security sources, at least one of the attackers was shot dead before he could detonate his suicide vest and others blew themselves up when they were surrounded.
There were reports that two IS fighters were holed up in a hotel damaged in the attack.
Latest reports say 15 people have been killed in an air raid near Kirkuk.
Meanwhile, roadside bombings and suicide attacks by Islamic State are posing a danger to Iraqi forces and their allies as they advance on Mosul.
An American bomb disposal expert died after a roadside bomb blew up north of the city.
He was one of 100 US special operation forces embedded with the advancing Iraqi Kurdish troops, the peshmerga.
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![An Iraqi special forces soldier fires an RPG during clashes with Islamic States fighters in Bartella]()
Image: An Iraqi special forces soldier fires an RPG during clashes with Islamic State fighters in Bartella -
![A roadside bomb explodes as Iraqi troops move on Mosul]()
Image: A roadside bomb explodes as Iraqi troops move on Mosul -
![An Iraqi special forces soldier fires a rifle during clashes with Islamic States fighters in Bartella]()
Image: An Iraqi special forces soldier fires a rifle during clashes with Islamic State fighters in Bartella -
![Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fire at an ISIS position during an assault to recapture the village of Tiskharab near Mosul, Iraq]()
Image: Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fire at an IS position during an assault to recapture the village of Tiskharab near Mosul, Iraq -
![A helicopter lands on a road in Nawran village, some 10km north east of Mosul]()
Image: A helicopter lands on a road in Nawran village, some 10km north east of Mosul -
![An Iraqi special forces soldier fires a RPG during clashes with Islamic States fighters in Bartella]()
Image: An Iraqi special forces soldier fires a RPG during clashes with Islamic States fighters in Bartella -
![A displaced woman who fled from Islamic State militants in Mosul holds her baby at Deepaka camp in the northwest of Erbil]()
Image: A displaced woman who fled from Islamic State militants in Mosul holds her baby at Deepaka camp in the north west of Erbil -
![An Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighter looks on in Nawran village]()
Image: An Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighter looks on in Nawran village -
![A member of Iraqi army prays after the liberation of Khalidiya village from Islamic State militants south of Mosul]()
Image: A member of Iraqi army prays after the liberation of Khalidiya village from Islamic State militants south of Mosul -
![Iraqis who fled violence in Mosul rest under a makshift tent upon reaching Syria, near the Iraqi border, in Hasaka Governorate]()
Image: Iraqis who fled violence in Mosul rest under a makeshift tent upon reaching Syria -
![Smoke rises from a bomb attack south of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants]()
Image: Smoke rises from a bomb attack south of Mosul, during an operation to attack Islamic State militants -
![Iraqi special forces soldiers sit on top of an armoured vehicle next to a flag of Imam Hussein in Bartella]()
Image: Iraqi special forces soldiers sit on top of an armoured vehicle next to a flag of Imam Hussein in Bartella -
![IED planted by Islamic States fighters explodes in front of Iraqi special forces vehicles in Bartella]()
Image: IED planted by Islamic State fighters explodes in front of Iraqi special forces vehicles -
![A mortar round left by Islamic States fighters is seen in Bartella]()
Image: A mortar round left by Islamic State fighters in Bartella -
![An Iraqi special forces soldier fires a cannon at Islamic States fighters in Bartella]()
Image: An Iraqi special forces soldier fires a cannon at Islamic State fighters -
![A displaced child who fled Islamic State militants from Mosul plays at Deepaka camp in the northwest of Erbil]()
Image: A displaced child from Mosul, who fled Islamic State militants, plays at Deepaka camp in the north west of Erbil
IS have launched at least nine suicide car and truck bombs against the Iraqi forces. Eight were destroyed before reaching their target, while the ninth blew up an armoured Humvee.
On Thursday, Iraqi forces took the town of Bartella, which like Mosul has been held by IS for two years.
"After we break them in Bartella, everywhere else, they will crumble," said Maj Gen Fadhil Barwari.
He said the town was almost empty of civilians and IS had few defences.
Soldiers shot down an IS drone that appeared overhead, similar to one that had killed two Kurdish troops a week before.
A suicide truck attack on peshmerga troops in Telkif by IS was filmed by a Kurdish television channel.
Earlier, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told an international meeting in Paris that the offensive was "advancing faster than expected".
The French President, Francois Hollande, told the meeting that jihadists were already leaving for Raqqa, their stronghold in neighbouring Syria.
He said: "We can't afford mistakes in the pursuit of the terrorists who are already leaving Mosul for Raqqa. We cannot allow those who were in Mosul to evaporate."
The assault on Bartella was led by troops from Iraq's US-trained Counter Terrorism Service (CTS).
The UN fears that up to a million people may still be trapped inside Mosul and could be forced to flee, sparking a humanitarian disaster.
The troops working to liberate the city have so far come across hundreds of civilians but it has been reported that a few thousand had left Mosul to cross into Syria.
Around 500 are now at a refugee camp and the others are on the border.