Iraq claimed that “Islamic State group assailants” killed a policeman and wounded two others before blowing up two oil fields in Kirkuk, in the northern part of the country. The fire in the first oil well has been brought under control, they said, but efforts to douse the second fire was ongoing.
Kirkuk is a predominantly Kurdish area and the ownership of the oil fields is a contentious issue between the Kurds and Baghdad. The Kurds run an autonomous government in Erbil and see ownership of the oil fields as the key to state and financial credibility.
