2 IEDs defused in Kirkuk

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: Security personnel in Kirkuk have managed to defuse two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in two different parts of the province without causing casualties or damage. “Today, joint personnel from Kirkuk police and the Multi-National Force (MNF) defused an explosive charge planted near al-Maarid checkpoint in al-Khadraa neighborhood in southwestern Kirkuk,” a source from Kirkuk’s operation room told IraqiNews.com. Kirkuk, 250 km (156 miles) north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, sits on the ruins of a 5,000-year-old settlement. Because of the strategic geographical location of the city, Kirkuk was the battle ground for three empires, Assyria, Babylonia and Media which controlled the city at various times. SS (P) 1