Iraqi airstrikes target 6 suspected ISIS hideouts in Anbar

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s air force struck six suspected Islamic State (ISIS) hideouts in the west of the country, the armed forces announced on Friday evening.

The sites in Wadi Hauran in Anbar province were identified as belonging to “ISIS detachments” in a joint operation by the Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency, Ministry of the Interior, and the Counter-Terrorism Service, under the command of the Joint Operations Command.

“Based on accurate intelligence information, the valiant Air Falcons carried out airstrikes using F-16 aircraft, targeting these hideouts, which were completely destroyed,” the Security Media Cell stated.

The Iraqi government maintains that the ISIS threat has been largely contained though security forces carry out frequent operations targeting suspected militants. Earlier this month, two Peshmerga were killed by a roadside bomb believed to have been planted by ISIS militants in Tuz Khurmatu, Salahaddin province.

In its latest report on anti-ISIS operations, the United States Pentagon said that ISIS is a bigger threat in Syria than it is in Iraq.

In Iraq, “ISIS displayed limited capabilities, conducting the lowest number of attacks observed since the onset of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq in 2003. The group also showed no significant improvement in attack sophistication,” stated the Pentagon report that was published on October 29.

Anbar’s desert regions along the border with Syria remain a hotspot of jihadist activity, as do the disputed areas where there is a security vacuum between Kurdish and Iraqi forces.

ISIS, which seized control of swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory in 2014, was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later.