Iraq’s fighter jets kill two suspected ISIS members in Diyala

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi F-16 fighter jets on Thursday killed at least two suspected Islamic State militants in a remote area of Diyala province, according to a military statement.

The airstrike targeted a suspected hideout of the militants in Al-Abara in southern Diyala, a statement from the Iraqi military media, known as Security Media Cell, announced on Thursday.

Two dead bodies, along with firearms, were recovered by a unit of Iraqi police that arrived at the scene, the statement added.

Iraqi fighter jets regularly carry out airstrikes against ISIS remnants whose self-styled caliphate was brought down by the Iraqi and Kurdish forces in 2017 with the support of the US-led coalition against Daesh, the Arabic acronym of the terror group.

Iraqi forces similarly conduct ground military operations against the group's remnants.

In a manhunt operation recently in Kirkuk, at least five suspected members of the group were killed.  

The terror group occupied approximately one-third of Iraq for nearly three years, including its second-largest city Mosul. 

The group, which once controlled a third of the country following its rapid rise in 2014,  has displaced over a million people and claimed the lives of thousands of security forces and civilians.

The lack of cooperation in secuirty between the Kurdistan Region forces and the Iraqi army in the disputed territories is blamed for the ongoing threats from the group.

Part of Diyala Province is located within the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad. 

Despite repeated calls by the Kurdistan Region’s security and political leaders to deploy joint brigades in areas containing ISIS insurgents, no concrete actions had been taken so far, Kurdish officials have said on several occasions.