Two were killed, including a police officer, in separate attacks on Thursday and Friday by gunmen suspected of being affiliated with the Islamic State group in northern Iraq.
The gunmen attacked Baghdad-ruled northern Iraqi governorates of Kirkuk and Salah al-Din, killing one police officer and the brother of another policeman, security sources said.
The "gunmen attacked several Federal Police points in the Riyadh and Rashad districts of the Kirkuk governorate after midnight early Friday, killing one policeman,” a Kirkuk police officer told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.
The attackers fled the scene, the anonymous source added.
On Thursday evening, the brother of a policeman was killed in the Salah al-Din province when shooters stormed the house of the chief of police for al-Abbasiya in the cities of Samarra, Samir Al-Shihabi, captain of the Salah al-Din police, told Anadolu Agency.
"The gunmen opened fire on the owners of the house, which led to the death of the chief’s brother while the chief and his son sustained injuries,” Al-Shihabi said.
The attackers fled the scene and are still at large, he said.
Despite the attackers being suspected affiliates of IS, no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, and Iraqi officials have yet to comment on the incidents.
In 2017, Iraq declared victory over IS by reclaiming all of its territories – about a third of the country’s area – invaded by the terror group in 2014.
But the group still maintains sleeper cells in large areas of Iraq and launches sporadic attacks. The Iraqi army continues to carry out frequent operations against the group in parts of the country.