IS blows up 2 oil wells, kills 2 security members in northern Iraq

An oil well in the Bai Hassan oil field was set ablaze after Islamic State (IS) militants blew it up in Kirkuk, Iraq, on May 5, 2021.(Xinhua)

IS militants attacked the Bai Hassan oil field in Kirkuk at dawn and clashed with the security guards, killing two of them and blowing up two oil wells.

BAGHDAD, May 5 (Xinhua) -- The militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group on Wednesday attacked an oil field in Iraq's Kirkuk Province, killing two security members and blowing up two oil wells, a government statement and provincial security source said.

A statement by the media office of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil said IS militants blew up two oil wells and set them ablaze in the Bai Hassan oil field in the al-Dibis area northwest of the namesake provincial capital Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the capital Baghdad.

The attack resulted in the killing and wounding of some security forces, the statement added, without giving further details.

Black smoke is seen billowing from an oil well in the Bai Hassan oil field after it was blown up by IS militants in Kirkuk, Iraq, on May 5, 2021. (Xinhua)

Teams and firefighting vehicles of the Iraqi North Oil Company managed to extinguish the blaze at one well and were still working to extinguish the other.

Meanwhile, Issam al-Bayati from the provincial police told Xinhua that IS militants attacked Bai Hassan oil field at dawn and clashed with the security forces guarding the oil field, killing two of them and wounding three others.

Iraq's oil installations and pipelines have been frequently attacked by extremist IS militants despite the improvement of the security situation in the country since the government declared the full defeat of the IS throughout the country late in 2017.

IS remnants have since melted into deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.