SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi armed forces said they had found a cache of weapons that belonged to the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Kirkuk.
A cache of weapons was discovered following a joint operation launched by the Federal Police and the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Kirkuk province, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) on Friday reported citing a statement.
“Light and medium weapons were found in the cache in Al-Mu’tasim village of Hawija district in Kirkuk,” the statement said. “The weapons were used to target citizens and security forces.”
ISIS which once controlled swathes of territory in Iraq was declared defeated territorially in 2017 after military campaigns launched by the Iraqi armed forces, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, including the Iran-backed militants with the support of the US-led Coalition.
ISIS is now restored to carrying out insurgent-style attacks by using sleeper cells, particularly in the areas that are disputed between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The Disputed territories stretch across Diyala, Salahadin, Kirkuk, and Nineveh provinces, where the remaining militants of ISIS still pose a serious threat to the security of the country.
