ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A clash erupted in Kirkuk’s Hawija district late Monday, targeting security personnel in the area and leaving one police officer dead and two others injured, a security source told The New Region, adding that the armed group remains unidentified.

A police officer was killed, and two others were wounded in gunfire in Hawija district, southwest of Kirkuk, a security source from Kirkuk’s police command told The New Region on Monday.

A sniper initially targeted police personnel in the al-Mahous area, the source added.

A security alert has been declared, and search operations are underway to locate the perpetrator, he added.

The armed group remains unidentified, as no group has claimed responsibility and no official statements have been confirmed by the authorities.

Islamic State (ISIS) remnants have entrenched themselves in Kirkuk’s rural areas for years, resulting in frequent airstrikes from the Iraqi army and counterterrorism forces.

In late September, following a clash with ISIS remnants, Iraqi counterterrorism forces falsely identified a Kurdish youth as a suspected ISIS member. 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.

A security source told The New Region on Sunday that 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.

Despite their territorial defeat, ISIS militants have continued to pose a security threat in Iraq through sporadic hit-and-run operations and attacks on remote areas. Iraqi forces, in cooperation with Kurdish forces, have intensified their efforts to eliminate these remnants.