Unknown gunmen believed to be Islamic State (IS) militants killed five members of the same family in an ambush on the Kirkuk-Tikrit road on Thursday, December 26.
“An armed group linked to IS stopped the vehicle carrying the family at a fake checkpoint they set up on the main road connecting Kirkuk with Tikrit near the plaster factory before they shot and killed all the passengers,” Mu’amar Murtadha, police chief of southwester Kirkuk’s Rashad sub-district told KirkukNow.
He added that five members of the same family, among them women, were killed, meanwhile three vehicles were shot at as they passed through the fake checkpoint.
The police chief said that a security force arrived at the scene launched a search operation to find those responsible for the attack.
The incident occurred within the borders of Salahaddin province. Meanwhile security forces were deployed along the Kirkuk-Tikrit main road.
