Two suspected Islamic State members killed after their suicide belts explode in a shootout in Iraq

September 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –

At least two suspected terrorists have died after their explosive belts detonated during a clash with Iraqi security forces in the northern province of Kirkuk, authorities have confirmed, adding that the deceased were members of the jihadist group Islamic State.

Turkish Interior Ministry spokesman Muqdad Miri said in a statement on Facebook that officers “chased and surrounded two terrorists” in the area. “They opened fire on them and it was discovered that they were carrying explosives, as they exploded due to the gunfire, which caused their deaths,” he said.

Miri himself told Kurdish television channel Rudaw that the dead, whose identity has not yet been revealed, were members of the Islamic State who were riding in a tuk tuk when they were detected by security forces deployed in Kirkuk.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al Sudani recently said that the jihadist group “no longer poses a threat” to the country and argued that the cells present in its territory are “isolated groups” that have been cornered by security forces operations.

However, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) acknowledged in July that the group is reconstituting itself in Iraq and Syria and that it is regaining its lost capacity since the disappearance of the “caliphate”. The jihadist group still has several hundred fighters distributed in several mobile cells within Iraqi territory.