The Iraqi Security Media Cell announced that the intelligence unit had carried out a sophisticated operation against ISIS in the Hamrin mountain range in coordination with the Joint Operations Command.
The media cell said in a statement on Thursday that the security operation was carried out by the tactical force of the intelligence agency, in coordination with the Joint Operations Command and the Air Force.
An airstrike targeted one of the most critical ISIS hideouts in the mountain range, used to launch terrorist attacks in Kirkuk.
The operation was carried out based on accurate intelligence information, which led to the targeting of the location. Security units clashed with the terrorists killing one of them, while another detonated his explosives belt after being surrounded by the unit.
Seven terrorists were killed in the operation, while search efforts are still underway to uncover other hideouts within this region, added the statement.
It comes within a series of operations carried out by the security forces against ISIS, after the attack earlier this month that left 12 members of the Federal Police dead and dozens of others wounded.
Under the directives of the Prime Minister and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Mustafa Kadhimi, the Iraqi forces carried out a series of operations, code-named the “Revenge of the Martyrs", against the terrorists’ hideouts in those rugged areas.
The international coalition participated in the operations carried out by the Iraqi army.
Iraq declared a military victory over ISIS in late 2017, after fierce battles that lasted three years. The terrorist organization was able to regroup its remnants and resume military operations in many regions and provinces reaching the outskirts of Baghdad, especially in the Tarmiyah district, north of the capital.
The US-led international coalition plays a significant role in fighting ISIS, whether at the level of intelligence information, aviation, support, or equipment, in light of the contradicting political positions in Iraq concerning the foreign presence in the country, namely the US forces.
Washington began to withdraw its forces based on the strategic agreement signed between Kadhimi and US President Joe Biden at the White House last July.
The international coalition announced that it would increase its forces in Iraq, replacing the US troops, amid Western reports about the ISIS threat and inability to tighten control over the Iraqi-Syrian border.
The reports warn that the porous borders between Iraq and Syria make it difficult to control the ISIS militants from infiltrating it.
