SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The Iraqi military on Saturday announced the killing of two Islamic State (SIS) leaders in an airstrike, following an attack that killed 11 soldiers in Diyala province.
Iraq’s security media cell said the two ISIS leaders, nicknamed Abu Isam and Abu Muhammad, were riding a pickup truck when they were followed by the security forces.
The two wearing explosive belts were accompanied by a “third terrorist,” it said in a tweet.
Footage released by the Iraqi military showed an airstrike destroying a pickup truck parked near a tanker truck in an area inside Iraq. Two men appear walking near the pickup car.
The Iraqi military said the airstrike was in revenge to the recent ISIS attack that killed 11 soldiers in Diyala province.
“Our security forces are promising more operations that will be fatal to the terrorists in the near future, and the response will be very harsh and expected,” it said.
The attack was one of the deadliest targeting the Iraqi military in recent months.
ISIS controlled roughly a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017. Iraqi forces and Kurdish troops backed by U.S.-led Coalition forces as well as Iran-backed Shia militias defeated the militant group in 2017, but its members still roam areas of northern Iraq and northeastern Syria.
ردا على الأعمال الإرهابية الجبانة الاخيرة الغادرة ومن خلال المتابعة الميدانية وتكثيف الجهود الاستخبارية لوكالة الاستخبارات والتحقيقات الاتحادية في وزارة الداخلية، وخلية الاستهداف التابعة لقيادة العمليات المشتركة فقد تم رصد ومتابعة قياديين إثنين من عصابات داعش الإرهابية pic.twitter.com/NYp3qwr5jN
— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) January 22, 2022
