Daily Freeman (Kingston, NY)

IS attacks in and around Kirkuk; US death identified

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Islamic State militants launched a wave of pre-dawn attacks in and around the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, killing at least 14 people and setting off fierce clashes with Kurdish security forces that were still raging after sundown.

The assault appeared aimed at diverting attention from the Iraqi offensive to retake Mosul, and it raised fears the extremists could lash out in unpredicta­ble ways as they defend the largest city under their control in Iraq. Explosions rocked Kirkuk, and gunfire rang out around the provincial headquarte­rs, where the fighting was concentrat­ed. Smoke billowed over the city, and the streets were largely deserted out of fear of militant snipers.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has identified the American killed in Iraq on Thursday as a 34-year-old Navy chief petty officer named Jason C. Finan of Anaheim. He was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three.

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