Iraqi forces kill, arrest 16 ISIS members in Eid al-Adha operations
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In parallel operations that began on Monday, Iraq’s counterterrorism agency killed and arrested 16 Islamic State members in two provinces, a security source said.
A counterterrorism unit “killed eight ISIS operatives in Anbar’s Rutba [District] and two in Lake Hamrin of Diyala [province],” a security source told Kurdistan 24 on Monday, without elaborating further.
“Another unit arrested five [ISIS] elements and a senior leader in Anbar [province’s] Karma and Dulab areas.”
The source added that the push came as part of an operation the agency has termed as “Sawlat al-Eid.”
Early on Monday, a group of Islamic State members attacked an Iraqi federal police outpost outside a village south of the city of Kirkuk. The gunmen killed two officers and injured two more, according to another security source.
The source asserted that the attackers are part of the terrorist organization’s sleeper cells that are based in the western part of Kirkuk in rural parts of Hawija District.
In late 2017, Baghdad proclaimed a “final victory” over the Islamic State. Since then, however, the terror group has continued to wage an insurgency in areas the group once controlled and have even been able to reach cities and towns they never held.
On Friday, Iraqi security forces announced the conclusion to an operation that was part of the latest effort to engage members of the extremist group after the military claimed success in clearing areas north and west of Baghdad in two previous military operations.
According to Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, the campaign targeted areas located north of Miqdadiya district in Diyala province, as well as north of Jalawla and Khanaqin, most of which are disputed territories between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Federal Government of Iraq.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany