The ministry said in a statement that “we are rejecting all the claims alleging that a number of villages in south Kirkuk were controlled by ISIS militants.”
The ministry slammed an unnamed MP from Kirkuk for making such allegations, but did not deny ISIS movements in the region were intimidating locals.
“A number of ISIS militants have been manipulating the darkness of night time [intimidating] people by using loud speakers,” the statement read, adding that as soon as Iraqi arrive at sites where militants have been reported, “they disappear.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared ISIS militarily defeated in Iraq last December. But the group remains a serious security threat, largely in the Kirkuk area and in Anbar. Recently they have carried out several hit-and-run operations against Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries.
Related: Kirkuk locals: We see ISIS movements; they steal our chickens
Iraqi forces have launched a number of military operations against the group in the Kirkuk area.
Locals in south Kirkuk have expressed their concerns numerous times that a security vacuum created when the Peshmerga pulled out in the face of Iraqi advances has paved the way for the revival of ISIS in the region.
A Kakei force operating under the command of the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi is in the area, but they acknowledge they don’t have the capability to secure the area that was once under Peshmerga control.
Officials from the brigade have confirmed to Rudaw in the past the presence of ISIS and their control over several villages.
“No force has been able to reach these villages,” said Saed Omed, commander of the Kakei Battalion in the Babylon Brigade. “ISIS had been present there in the past and the group’s remnants are still there.”
ISIS militants are also a threat in Diyala province.
The head of the Sharaban town council in Diyala province announced in a press conference that a military raid against ISIS was launched on Thursday to clear the group’s remnants in the province’s northeast.
“In order to clean the area of ISIS sleeper cells, their whereabouts and military sites, today a joint military force launched a raid into the groves and areas of the Imam River and Shok al-Rim in eastern Sharaban town,” Adnan Dilemi, said.
A media source at Diyala Police confirmed the news to Rudaw, saying they will announce the results of the operation in the near future.
