ISIS launches attack on Kirkuk

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

Amman, Jordan (CNN)ISIS militants have launched an attack on the oil-producing northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

There had been recent speculation that ISIS might attack Kirkuk to force Kurdish troops to divert their efforts away from Mosul, ISIS' stronghold in Iraq. Peshmerga fighters have moved in around the outskirts of Mosul recently, backed by coalition airstrikes.

ISIS has previously held areas on the outskirts of Kirkuk but not the central city.

Militants took over Maktab Khalid, an area southwest of the city after heavy clashes with Kurdish Peshmerga troops. Among those killed was Brig. Gen. Shirko Fateh, the highest-ranking operational commander of the Peshmerga brigade located in Kirkuk.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/30/middleeast/isis-attack/index.html

[oberliner]

1. Somebody maybe ought to help out the Kurds with this

I know we've been down that road before, but still.