Kirkuk bombings shut down Zain Iraq network
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Kirkuk bombings shut down Zain Iraq network

A wave of fatal bombings at the weekend in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, have damaged and temporarily closed down Zain Iraq’s network in the area.

Thought to be targeting Kurdish forces, three rounds of bombings killed 18 people in Kirkuk on Saturday, and also damaged part of Zain Iraq’s network in the city.

A local source confirmed that “there is currently a network outage in the province of Kirkuk” and “work is underway to restore services in that area”.

The bombings were also said to have briefly impaired Zain Iraq’s network in Kurdistan – approximately 160km north of Kirkuk – but the source said that this has now been repaired.

In an emailed statement to Reuters, Zain Iraq’s rival Asiacell said that its network in Kirkuk had only suffered a “minor impact – nothing of significance”, but did say that it was unable to access some of its sites in the region for maintenance.

Zain Iraq is the country’s number one mobile operator with an estimated 49% share of subscribers, and in April 2014 was sued for $4.5 billion over its 2007 purchase of Iraqna.

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