“The brave Air Falcons carried out two successful airstrikes by F-16 aircraft at 1:30 am last night in the Laylan area within the Kirkuk Operations Command sector,” the army’s Security Media Cell said in a statement.
The bodies of four suspected ISIS militants, including an “important leader,” were found by Iraqi counterterrorism forces at 5:00 am upon arriving at the site, the cell added.
“The operation also resulted in the destruction of weapons, communications devices, and logistical materials, and the search process is still ongoing,” according to the army.
The strike in territories disputed between the federal Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is the latest in an ongoing effort to rid the country of ISIS cells, in areas where a security vacuum allows them to operate.
ISIS seized control of vast swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014, sweeping across vast stretches of northern and central Iraq.
But the jihadists’ so-called “caliphate” was brought to an end in 2017 as Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, supported by a US-led international coalition, clawed back territory from the group.
Despite its territorial defeat, ISIS has continued to pose security threats in Iraq through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, particularly in the disputed territories that stretch across several provinces including Diyala, Salahaddin, Kirkuk, and Nineveh.
Last week, an Iraqi airstrike in disputed territories in Salahaddin province killed at least six ISIS members.
In late August, a joint operation by the Iraqi army and US forces in the western Anbar province killed 16 ISIS militants, and the US military later said that the operation killed four ISIS leaders.
Earlier this month, the Iraqi army announced that over 100 ISIS members have been killed since the beginning of the year.
