SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi forces killed an Islamic State (ISIS) leader and detained three other militants in Kirkuk province, a military official said on Thursday.
Yehia Rasool, spokesman for Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, said the counter-terrorism forces launched an airdrop operation in Wadi Zugheitun in west of Kirkuk for the second day in row.
“The terrorist, A. M., who was one of ISIS leaders, was killed,” Rasool tweeted.
Rasool said on Wednesday night that the counter-terrorism forces also arrested three militants in Wadi Zugheitun.
The U.S.-led Coalition said in a tweet that the Iraqi counter-terrorism forces backed by its warplanes destroyed a number of ISIS tunnels in the area.
“The ISF and the Coalition continue to strengthen our unity to achieve a common goal: prevent a resurgence of Daesh,” the Coalition said, using an Arabic name for ISIS.
Coalition Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto said the Iraqi forces and the Coalition forces had removed another ISIS “terrorist” in Kirkuk.
Iraqi forces have stepped up efforts to detain ISIS militants in the provinces of Kirkuk, Saladin, Anbar and Baghdad. The Iraqi counter-terrorism forces detained two ISIS militants in the vicinity of Sulaimani province on Monday and Tuesday.
Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December 2017 but the militants have regrouped in the Hamrin mountain range which extends into the northern provinces – an area described by officials as a “triangle of death”.
