On 21 October 2016, dozens of ISIL militants and suicide bombers, supported by local sleeper cells,[2] entered Kirkuk and stormed a power station and police stations in the city, killing 18 members of security forces and power station workers, including 2–5[10]Iranian workers. The ISIL militants captured a mosque and an abandoned hotel 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 23 October, several remaining ISIL attackers 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 of Hawija,[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 former President of IraqSaddam Hussein, for having participated in the Kirkuk raid.[7]
