ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Unidentified armed individuals late Thursday opened fire on two Kurdish farmers in Kirkuk province, injuring one and leaving the other missing, a local official told Rudaw.
The incident took place in Prde (Altun Kupri) subdistrict on the Erbil border.
The farmers were on their way to a village "when they were ambushed by a group of unidentified gunmen and detained," Abdul Muttalib Najmaddin, the mayor of the subdistrict, told Rudaw.
“One of the detainees named Pala Najmaddin tried to escape, was shot at and wounded. It is suspected that the second person has been kidnapped,” he added.
According to a source at Azadi Hospital in Kirkuk, one wounded person was brought to the hospital with two bullets to the head, but his health condition is stable.
Security sources told Rudaw that at the ambush site, clashes erupted between the Iraqi army and the unidentified gunmen. In the fight, two army soldiers were injured and rushed to Azadi Hospital in Kirkuk for treatments.
Hardi Mohammed contributed to this article.
Updated at 9:45am on Friday.