ISIS militants have blown up an oil pipeline in the Kirkuk province in northern Iraq, Rudaw reported, citing head of Kurdish security forces Idris Rafaat.
According to Rafaat, Iraqi police have not yet taken full control of the territory. ISIS fighters, who are situated in the highlands of Kirkuk, used the “vacuum created as a result of the change in power” to launch the attack.
The fire has not been extinguished yet, according to media reports.
Bagdad regained the control of the province of Kirkuk in northern Iraq last year after it had been run by Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region for several years.
Iraqi militias have conducted several military operations to locate remaining ISIS militants, their shelters and arms caches.
In February, the region’s governor, Rakan al-Jubouri, stated that there is a threat from so-called ISIS “sleeper-cells” in Kirkuk.
At the end of 2017, Iraqi authorities declared victory over ISIS, noting, however, that the fight against remaining cells would continue.