ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi airstrikes targeted alleged Islamic State (ISIS) remnants in Salahaddin province on Wednesday, the Security Media Cell (SMC) said, amid a surge in strikes following early July clashes that killed an Iraqi military officer.
“Following the tracking and surveillance of the movements of elements of the ISIS terrorist gangs, the Falcons of the Air Force carried out four precise airstrikes using F-16 fighter jets,” the SMC announced, noting that “the strikes targeted terrorist safe houses and hideouts in Wadi al-Shai within the Salahaddin Operations Command sector, resulting in the complete destruction of the designated targets.”
The Wednesday operation was carried out based on intelligence from the federal Counter-Terrorism Service and was coordinated with the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief’s targeting cell, according to the statement.
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.
Abdul-Amir Shammari, director of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Iraq's Armed Forces, chaired a high-level security meeting in Baghdad on Sunday with Peshmerga Chief of Staff Issa Ozeir and senior Iraqi and Kurdish security officials in attendance.
Officials reviewed security conditions in areas controlled by joint Iraqi Security Forces and Peshmerga brigades and both sides stressed the need for greater coordination to “better control these areas and maintain their security,” the Peshmerga Ministry stated on Sunday.
In early July, an Iraqi military officer was killed during clashes with ISIS in Kirkuk province, prompting increased airstrikes targeting the group’s hideouts using F-16 fighter jets, helicopters, and Cessna Caravan aircraft.
These events spurred large-scale operations across disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad, including dozens of airstrikes and ground missions. Iraqi and Kurdistan Region security forces continue intelligence-led operations against Islamic State sleeper cells, specifically in former militant strongholds.
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