ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A high-ranking Iraqi official in Kirkuk was removed from his position after two Kurdish civilians were killed in a counterterrorism operation in the province days earlier, a security source told The New Region on Sunday.

In late September, Iraqi counterterrorism forces falsely identified a Kurdish youth as a suspected Islamic State (ISIS) member, following a clash with ISIS remnants. The operation also led to the death of another bystander, another Kurdish teenager.

The incident sparked uproar among the Kurdish public and political officials, demanding justice for the teenagers and their families.

The head of Kirkuk’s counterterrorism brigade was removed seven days after he assumed the position, following the anti-ISIS operation in Pirde (Altun Kupri), and replaced by his predecessor, a security source told The New Region on Sunday.

Baghdad has yet to officially confirm the development.

Last week, Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) said its forces engaged three “terrorist” ISIS members in Pirde, claiming to have killed two members of the militant group and arrested a third.

It was later revealed that the skirmish resulted in the death of a Kurdish teenager named Murad Zana, while another Kurdish young man, Mohammed Hemin, who was near the warehouse during the shooting, went missing.

Mohammed, however, was confirmed to have been taken into custody on suspicion of being an ISIS member. He later succumbed to his wounds while in custody. His family was notified by authorities on Tuesday to pick up his body at Kirkuk’s forensic medicine department, two days after he went missing.

ICTS retracted the initial statement on Thursday, claiming instead that one ISIS member was killed and another injured, while acknowledging the death of two civilians, after widespread backlash over the botched operation.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered the formation of an investigative committee, the authorities in Kirkuk revealed, to determine the circumstances of the incident and hold the “negligent” parties accountable, “regardless of their position.”