Iraqi airstrike kills six ISIS suspects in Kirkuk mountains

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi F-16 warplanes targeted an Islamic State (ISIS) hideout in Kirkuk province on Friday, killing six militants including a senior leader, the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) announced.

The airstrike destroyed the hideout in the Hamrin Mountains and thwarted an attempted attack on Iraqi forces, CTS said in a statement, adding that the dead included “the leader, the deputy of the so-called governor of Kirkuk.”

The operation was conducted in coordination with the army’s Joint Operations Command.

“The successive operations of our heroes continue to eradicate the remnants of the ISIS terrorist gangs,” CTS stated.

ISIS seized control of swathes of territory in northern and central Iraq in 2014. Their so-called caliphate was brought to an end in 2017 when Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, supported by a United States-led international coalition, clawed back territory.

Despite its territorial defeat, ISIS has continued to pose a security threat 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.

On Tuesday, Iraqi warplanes carried out several airstrikes against suspected ISIS cells in the Hamrin Mountains of Kirkuk province, the army reported.