PHOTOS: Iraqi security forces destroy 3 ISIS hideouts in Kirkuk

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi military announced on Wednesday that it had raided three ISIS hideouts in western Kirkuk province, destroying them and seizing several explosive devices.

The operation comes at a time when ISIS attacks have escalated in Kirkuk, its surroundings, and other territories disputed by Baghdad and Erbil since the withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga forces in October 2017.

According to a statement by the military press office known as the Iraqi Security Media Cell, forces "managed to raid three terrorist hideouts in Jabal Kara,w located within the Sergalan district of Kirkuk province."

"The division's engineering detachments took charge of destroying the hideouts and their contents," it continued.

Earlier this week, ISIS ruminants launched an attack on the Federal Police in a village in the town of Al-Rashad, southwest of Kirkuk, killing 13 policemen and wounding several others.

Read More: ISIS attack in Kirkuk leaves at least 12 Iraqi policemen dead: Source

In less than four years, ISIS carried out about 4,887 attacks on security forces and civilians in Kirkuk, according to official figures obtained by Kurdistan 24.

The Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs says it continues to hold talks about arming two joint brigades with the Iraqi military in the disputed territories.

Despite the territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq in late 2017, militants continue to stage deadly attacks in multiple parts of the country.