Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria have turned their attention to an oil-rich city in northern Iraq after being driven out of Kobani last Monday.
CNN reported that heavily-armed Islamic State fighters broke into an abandoned hotel in central Kirkuk on Friday.
The hotel had become police headquarters after it was abandoned in the wake of the ISIS attacks.
This is the first time that Islamic State militants carried out an attack in the central part of the city. According to CNN, the ISIS fighters have fought several battles against the Peshmerga to the west of Kirkuk only. Though the group had managed to infiltrate the outskirts of the city, it has not attempted to push into the central part of the city until Friday's attack.
In response, CNN said, Kurdish anti-terror units together with Peshmerga fighters re-took control of the building from the Islamic State fighters. The attack saw three ISIS fighters and two suicide bombers killed.
Kirkuk attracted the attention of the Islamic State because of its oil reserves, which are "almost as much as those in southern Iraq." In addition, the city's reserves have been the subject of conflict between the Kurds and the Iraqi government before the emergence of the Islamic State.
The ISIS managed to weaken the Iraqi government forces in June last year, but their entry was prevented by the arrival of the Peshmerga fighters. The Peshmerga has since taken on the defence of Kirkuk.
While ISIS failed in its initial efforts in central Kirkuk, photos published by the Islamic State seemed to show successes in other parts of the city as CNN reported that ISIS-affiliated social media accounts released images of the militants burning tents allegedly belonging to the Peshmerga in south and southwest Kirkuk.
In addition, the ISIS also succeeded in wrestling control of Maktab Khalid, located 12 miles southwest of Kirkuk from the Peshmerga, killing Brigadier General Shirko Fateh.
Fateh is the most senior commander of the Peshmerga presence in the area.
