SPOILING ATTACK: ISIS Fighters in Iraq Attack Kirkuk, Diverting Attention From Mosul.

Dozens of uniformed Islamic State fighters in vehicles assaulted Kirkuk, setting off gun battles for hours in the heart of the city, according to local officials and to the militant group itself. Imams shut down all mosques in the city, canceling Friday Prayer.

The battle scenes and the sound of automatic gunfire inside the city, broadcast live on local television, were reminiscent of the Islamic State’s brazen march across northern Iraq in the summer of 2014. That offensive also involved multiple suicide attacks on police positions inside the city, and gunmen later took up positions in a mosque and a school, and on top of other buildings.

The attack on Kirkuk — a vital city to Iraq’s Kurds that has been under their control for more than two years — diverted attention, at least for a day, from the four-day offensive on Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which has been under the control of the Islamic State for more than two years.

The tragedy is that ISIS could have been nipped in the bud three years ago.