Shafaq News- Kirkuk
Gunmen abducted a young man on the outskirts of Kirkuk province's Taza Khurmatu district, prompting Iraqi security forces to launch a large-scale search operation, security sources told Shafaq News on Saturday.
The attackers fled to an unknown location after carrying out the abduction. Initial investigations suggest the kidnapping may have been carried out by suspected ISIS militants, although authorities have not officially confirmed the group's involvement.
Kirkuk is a disputed, oil-rich province claimed by both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, and forms part of what security officials refer to locally as the triangle of death —a volatile belt stretching across Kirkuk, Saladin, and Diyala provinces that has long served as an operational corridor for ISIS remnants. Its southern districts, particularly valleys and remote agricultural zones, continue to function as transit routes and hideouts for militant cells.