(The Daily Star)- A suspected extremist gunman captured during a shock attack on Kirkuk Friday said the raid was planned to divert attention from a major offensive on ISIS' Mosul stronghold.
An AFP reporter attended the interrogation shortly after his arrest by Kurdish forces of a suspected member of the ISIS group that claimed the attack.
"Today's attack was one of caliph Baghdadi's plans to demonstrate that the Islamic State is remaining and expanding and reduce the pressure on the Mosul front," he said, his hands cuffed behind his back.
He gave his name to the Kurdish security forces as Hani Aydan Mustafa, but his role in the extremist organisation was not clear.
He had been living in Kirkuk since fleeing his home town of Baiji during an offensive by pro-government forces last year to retake it from ISIS.
Several senior officials, including Kirkuk Governor Najmeddin Karim, said Friday's brazen attack by dozens of ISIS gunmen was likely to have involved sleeper cells.
According to security officials, at least six policemen and 12 ISIS attackers were killed in clashes that were still ongoing at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT).
Some senior security sources gave much higher numbers of several dozen killed extremists.
"My duty was to enter the mosque and proclaim the Takbeer to invite Kirkuk residents to welcome victory," the extremist suspect said during his initial interrogation, referring to the Arabic phrase for "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).
He was caught by security forces as he was about to enter a mosque in Kirkuk's southern neighborhood of Domiz.
"Each group in the attack had a specific task. Among the fighters were women who were tasked with documenting the operation," he said.
The captured young man, wearing a grey tracksuit and sporting a short beard, was taken to a police station for interrogation.
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