ISIS Claims Responsibility For Attacks In Iraq, Iranian Military Commander: If Needed, We Will Attack

Ilustrasi ISIS. (Wikimedia Commons / aharan_kotogo)

JAKARTA - Iran's military authorities say they cannot tolerate the activities of the Islamic State group, ready to launch attacks against them, after admitting responsibility for attacks that killed 12 people in Iraq yesterday.

Iran will not tolerate the increased activity of terrorist groups in the north of neighboring Iraq and is determined to attack them if its borders are threatened, Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the ground forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said on Monday.

Citing Sputnik Monday 6 September, Brigadier General's statement. General Pakpour was encouraged by the increasing activity of the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq's northern Kirkuk Province. On Sunday, members of the terrorist group killed 12 people in an attack on federal police in the village of Tal al-Steih.

"Given the increasing threat from terrorists and armed groups in Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, as well as the increasing instability on Iran's borders, I declare that Iran will not tolerate it and will provide a necessary and strong response," Pakpour told IRIB.

"Don't turn your territory into a terrorist arena. I reiterate, if necessary, we will attack," he stressed.

Earlier, a Sunday attack carried out by ISIS in Iraq killed 12 local police officers at a security checkpoint in the north of the country, citing Al Jazeera.

The attack took place in the al-Rashad area south of the city of Kirkuk, just after midnight. The attackers first engaged in a military confrontation with police officers that lasted about two hours, killing three officers. Reinforcements that came to the area were killed in an ambush using explosives planted by the roadside.

Separately, the attack also occurred on the same day, when gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in the southeastern Iraqi city of Mosul, security sources said.

On Monday, Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack on a checkpoint near the city of Kirkuk. ISIS, whose militants are active in the area, claimed responsibility for the attack via the Amaq News Agency on Telegram, citing Reuters Tuesday, September 7.

The source said the attackers clashed for two hours with police stationed in a village in the town of Rashad, 30 km (18 miles) southwest of Kirkuk. Militants used roadside bombs to prevent police reinforcements from reaching the post, destroying three police vehicles.