ISIS attackers at an oil field near Kirkuk in northern Iraq were killed and kidnapped oil employees were freed by security forces, a senior security source there
told CNN.
On Sunday, four militants thought to be wearing suicide vests reportedly attacked the Bai Hassan oilfield northwest of Kirkuk, stated CNN.
Agence France-Presse reported that, according to a Kurdish peshmerga colonel, security forces had killed two suicide bombers at the oilfield while a third detonated his explosives, setting oil tanks on fire.
The fourth attacker remained at large, stated AFP. The news agency stated that an engineer died in the attack and seven people were wounded. CNN stated that four employees from the Iraqi North Oil Company were taken hostage and were later freed.
While CNN reported that ISIS took responsibility for the attack through its affiliated Amaq news agency, AFP stated that Amaq reported the attack on the oilfield, but did not attribute it to the organization.
AFP reported that militants also attacked a gas plant in northern Iraq earlier on Sunday, killing five people. The news agency said that gunmen riding motorbikes fired on the facility's guards and eventually killed four employees and then planted bombs before escaping, according to the Iraqi North Oil Company and Kurdish Peshmerga on Sunday.
Al Jazeera reported that counter-terrorism forces freed 15 employees at the gas facility who hid from the attackers in a separate room. The fighters reportedly escaped and authorities believed they may have launched the Bai Hassan attack about 15 miles away.
CNN and AFP both stated that no one has yet claimed responsibility for the gas facility attack.
CNN reported that Kirkuk is claimed by both Iraq's central government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan regional government. The Bai Hassan oil field provides crude through a pipeline to the port city of Ceyhan, Turkey.
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