Four Iraqi soldiers killed in machine gun attack on remote post

Unrest in troubled region

A machine gun attack on a remote northern Iraqi military post killed four soldiers on Saturday, a military source said, the latest unrest in the troubled region. The source said the predawn assault targeted the desert post near Kirkuk, where remnants of the Daesh group are active, as well as Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels waging an insurgency against Turkey. Both Baghdad's forces and those of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region claim the area where the assault occurred. Iraqi Kurdish fighters are deployed about one kilometre from the post that was attacked, said the source, who asked not to be identified.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Turkish forces regularly carry out military operations against Kurdish PKK forces, designated a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies.