Battle of Kirkuk (2016)
Part of theWar in Iraq (2013–2017)
Location within Iraq
Date 21–24 October 2016[2] (3 days) Location Kirkuk,Kirkuk Governorate,Iraq Result Kurdish victory
Belligerents
Kurdistan Region PKK[1] CJTF-OIR United States	Islamic State
Commanders and leaders
Brig. Simko Rabati[3] (Kirkuk security commander) Idris Rafaat[3] (Kirkuk security official) Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir[3] (suburban police chief) Polad Talabani[4] (Peshmerga Counterterrorism Group commander) Lahur Talabany[4] (head ofZanyari)[5]	Abu Islam (POW)[4] (operations leader)[2] Abu Qudama †[6] (Kirkuk raid commander) Nizar Mahmud Abdul Ghani (POW)[7]
Units involved
Kurdistan Region Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Kurdistan Democratic Party Peshmerga Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG)[4] Asayish[6] Parastin u Zanyari[4] Ministry of Interior Popular Mobilization Forces 16th Turkmen Brigade Kirkuk civilianvigilantes[8]	Military of ISIL Kirkuk sleeper cells[2] Inghimasi fighters[9]
Strength
Unknown	100 militants[2]
Casualties and losses
76 killed[4]	84 killed[4] and several captured[2]
21 civilians killed, 265+ security forces members and civilians wounded overall[4]

TheBattle of Kirkuk took place in the city ofKirkuk in northernIraq betweenKurdistan and allies and theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant.^[1] The battle occurred less than a week after the beginning of theBattle of Mosul launched byIraqi security forces and allies.

On 21 October 2016, dozens of ISIL militants andsuicide bombers, supported by local sleeper cells,^[2] entered Kirkuk and stormed apower station andpolice stations in the city, killing 18 members of security forces and power station workers, including 2–5^[10]Iranian workers. The ISIL militants captured amosque and an abandonedhotel and barricaded themselves inside.^[11] Hours later, ISIL captured 2 more hotels and holed themselves in. Over 20 ISIL militants were killed,^[10] as security forces recaptured most of the buildings.^[3]

By the next day, ISIL forces still held parts of the Aruba District and a hotel,^[8] though these were retaken later on. Government forces then began a mop-up operation to clear the city of remaining militants, with some of the latter blowing themselves as they were cornered.^[12] Many local civilians had also taken up arms, hunting, capturing and killing ISIL fighters.^[8]

On the third day of the battle, several remaining ISIL militants attempted to flee the city, with five being killed^[13] and the ISIL operations leader captured by security forces.^[2] On 24 October, the last ISIL fighters in Kirkuk were killed, including the raid commander Abu Qudama, a senior ISIL military figure ofHawija,^[6] so that the governor of Kirkuk, Nadschmeddin Karim, could declare the city completely cleared of militants.^[2] On the next day, security forces arrested Nizar Mahmud Abdul Ghani, a cousin of formerPresident of IraqSaddam Hussein, for having participated in the Kirkuk raid.^[7]

• Battle of Hawija
• Battle of Kirkuk (2017)
• 2017 Western Iraq campaign

35°28′12″N44°23′45″E / 35.4700°N 44.3958°E /35.4700; 44.3958

• Battles of the War in Iraq (2013–2017)
• Battles in 2016
• 2016 in Iraqi Kurdistan
• October 2016 in Iraq
• Military operations of the Iraqi Civil War in 2016
• Kirkuk during the War in Iraq (2013–2017)
• Military operations of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) involving the Peshmerga
• Military operations of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) involving the Iraqi government
• Military operations of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) involving the PKK
• Military operations of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) involving the United States
• Military operations of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) involving the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
• Battles involving the Peshmerga

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