SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Nine Islamic State (ISIS) militants were killed in an airstrike in Diyala province, the Iraqi military said on Saturday.
In a statement, Iraq’s security media cell said Iraqi warplanes carried out three airstrikes against the “terrorist group” in Azim area in eastern Diyala province.
The strikes “killed nine terrorists” who were responsible for an attack that killed 11 Iraqi soldiers in the area on January 21, it added.
بعد أن تعهدت قواتنا الأمنية بأخذ الثأر لشهدائنا الأبطال في حادثة العظيم التي راح ضحيتها عددا من المقاتلين.
تمكن الأبطال في جهاز الأمن الوطني @Inss131 وبجهود مستمرة من تحديد الموقع الدقيق لمكان المجموعة الإرهابية في حاوي العظيم ضمن قاطع عمليات ديالى التي قامت بهذا العمل الإجرامي pic.twitter.com/6sswRysnuc— يحيى رسول | Yehia Rasool (@IraqiSpoxMOD) January 29, 2022
The attack was one of the deadliest targeting the Iraqi military in recent months.
On January 22, three ISIS militants including two leaders were also killed in an airstrike which the Iraqi military said was in retaliation of the killing of the soldiers in Diyala.
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.
