Iraqi air force kills suspected ISIS leader in Kirkuk

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi military announced on Friday that it had killed a suspected ISIS military leader in Kirkuk along with two of his comrades in an airstrike.

Nicknamed Abu Mustafa, the slain militant was the deputy military leader in charge of the terror group’s Kirkuk province, the Security Media Cell added.

Two more militants were killed in the Iraqi airstrike targeting a hideout in Zghitoun Valley in Kirkuk province, the statement added.

Iraqi forces usually conduct their airstrikes via F-16s in the remote areas of the country that had become a hotbed for ISIS militants following the 2017 territorial defeat.

Sweeping military operations are similarly conducted in those areas to thwart the resurgence of the extremists that once ruled a large swathe of lands in Iraq for three years.

Kurdish officials and security experts regularly warn of ISIS resurgence threats, particularly in the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad that lack security cooperation.

Iraq has launched at least four phases of “Solid Will” operations against the remnants of the group in different parts of the country. Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces participated in the latest phase of the operation conducted in southern Erbil province.