Peshmerga forces carry out anti-ISIS operation near Kirkuk

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Ministry of Peshmerga in a statement on Tuesday said it carried out an operation in Qara Hasan on the border of the Kirkuk province.

The area was used by ISIS as a hideout. Operations were also carried out in the nearby villages of Jawar Bor and Akhur Gurji, and other suspected ISIS points.

The operation lasted six hours and was carried out from four axes. Units of the 22nd Infantry Division also participated in the operation.

The operation was launched in reaction to ISIS militants abducting and killing two Kurdish civilians in the same region of Kirkuk last month.

Read More: Suspected ISIS militants kill Kurdish shepherd in Kirkuk  

Although ISIS lost all its territory in 2017, suspected ISIS sleeper cells continue to kidnap civilians for ransom in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.

The ISIS extremists especially operate in the security vacuum created by Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed forces by pushing out Peshmerga forces from the disputed territories after Kurdistan Region's September 2017 independence referendum.

The US-coalition has since then pushed for more cooperation between Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.