KIRKUK, Iraq

One security officer was killed and two others injured in an ambush by Daesh terrorists in northern Iraq, police sources said Monday.

Police spokesman Afrasyav Kamil told Anadolu Agency that Daesh militants opened fire on security forces in Sergaran town in Kirkuk governorate.

The battle between security forces and the militants lasted nearly an hour and the militants escaped to other districts after security reinforcements were sent to the area.

 Kamil added that Daesh sleeper cells launched an attack on members of the Hashd al-Shabi militia who had been patrolling on the Dibis-Sergaran highway in the area. One militia member was killed and two others were injured, he said.

Daesh sleeper cells in Iraq sometimes launch raids on a strategic road linking Baghdad to oil-rich Kirkuk.

Separately, Daesh terrorists killed two civilians and abducted another three at a fake checkpoint 55 kilometers from Kirkuk, said Hamid al-Ubeydi, a security captain of the province.  

According to Ubeydi, the incident took place in Hawija town. 

On March 12, Daesh terrorists killed 10 people and injured five along the Kirkuk-Baghdad highway.

Home to Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, the city of Kirkuk is being secured by Peshmerga forces of the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq.

Reporting by Ali Mukarrem Garip; Writing by Sadik Kedir Abdu