ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s defense ministry announced on Tuesday that an improvised explosive device (IED) struck an army vehicle in Kirkuk province, wounding three soldiers. The incident comes a day after the Iraqi air force targeted several suspected Islamic State (ISIS) hideouts in the province.
“As a force from the 11th Division was heading to search and inspect the remnants of an airstrike in the Wadi al-Shay area, an IED exploded on a Humvee belonging to the aforementioned division during the search and clearance operation,” the ministry said in a statement.
The three injured soldiers were “evacuated to a hospital to receive treatment, and their health condition is stable,” added the ministry.
The incident comes a day after the Iraqi air force targeted eight suspected ISIS hideouts in the area.
ISIS seized large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014 before being territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 after three years of intense fighting. Despite its territorial defeat, the group continues to pose a security threat, particularly in disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad spanning the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Salahaddin.
In early July, an Iraqi military officer was killed during clashes with ISIS in Kirkuk province, prompting increased airstrikes targeting the group’s hideouts.
The latest incident comes as Iraqi and Kurdistan Region security forces continue intelligence-led operations against ISIS sleeper cells, particularly in areas that were once strongholds of the militant group.
RELATED: Iraqi airstrikes destroy eight ISIS hideouts in Kirkuk
