4 Killed in ISIS Attack Near Iraq’s Mosul

Iraqi police patrol Kirkuk. (AFP file photo)
Iraqi police patrol Kirkuk. (AFP file photo)
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4 Killed in ISIS Attack Near Iraq’s Mosul

Iraqi police patrol Kirkuk. (AFP file photo)
Iraqi police patrol Kirkuk. (AFP file photo)

Four people, including two security forces personnel, were killed on Saturday in an ISIS attack on a village near Iraq’s Mosul, local and security sources said.

A security source, who asked not to be named, said that the night attack took place in a remote village near Makhmour district, south of Mosul, 300 km north of Baghdad.

Saleh al-Jubouri, director of the Qayyarah district, close to the site of the attack, said ISIS fighters attacked at around 2am a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) security checkpoint.

A member of the PMF, an officer, mayor of the village and a civilian were killed.

The security source said seven people were wounded in the attack, in which light weapons and mortars were used.

The attack took place five days after a similar ISIS attack on a security checkpoint near southern Kirkuk that killed 13 members of the Federal Police.

The attacks took place days after a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Mosul during which he stressed that “we should not be complacent” in the face of terrorists, and warned that “ISIS still poses a threat.”

In late 2017, Iraq announced its victory over ISIS, after expelling the terrorist group from all the areas it had seized in 2014.

Since then, the organization’s attacks in cities have decreased significantly, but Iraqi forces are still chasing sleeper cells in mountainous and desert areas.

The US is leading an international coalition in Iraq to combat ISIS. There are currently 2,500 US troops in Iraq helping local forces.

However, Washington announced in July its intention to end its “combat mission” in Iraq by the end of the year.



Six Local Officials Detained Over Iraq Deadly Mall Fire

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS
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Six Local Officials Detained Over Iraq Deadly Mall Fire

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani visits a five-story shopping center after a massive overnight fire killed multiple people, in Al-Kut, Wasit province, Iraq, July 17, 2025. Iraqi Prime Minister Media Office/Handout via REUTERS

Iraq has detained six local officials and suspended other public employees following a fire that killed 61 people at a shopping mall earlier this week, authorities said Saturday.

The blaze broke out late Wednesday in a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern city of Kut.

After an initial investigation, the interior ministry said "there was clear negligence among several officials and employees" in Kut, located around 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad.

It added that three local officials, including the head of civil defense in Kut, had been detained, and 17 employees suspended from work until further notice.

The Commission of Integrity, an anti-graft body, said later that security forces had detained three more officials "over the violations that led to the fire" at the Corniche Hypermarket Mall, including the head of the violations department at Kut's municipality.

Officials say their investigation is ongoing, and the number of detainees may change.

The cause of the mall fire was not immediately known, but one survivor told AFP an air conditioner had exploded on the second floor before the five-story building was rapidly engulfed in flames.

Several people told AFP they lost family members -- and in some cases whole families -- who had gone to shop and dine at the mall days after it opened.