Iraq’s elite forces launch military operation against ISIS in Kirkuk

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) on Monday launched a ground operation assisted by air cover from the US-led Coalition against the remnants and hideouts of the so-called Islamic State in Dibis district, Kirkuk province, killing several terrorists.

The ICTS operation coincides with the terror group’s resurgent attacks as it renewed its practice of attacking fields during the harvest season—yet another example of how the self-professed religious group targets the most innocent of civilian activities.

Crop fires affect the harvest season and significantly increase the security challenges that the terrorist group poses, as it also implants booby traps after setting fire to the fields, thereby exacerbating the difficulties in fighting the blazes.

On Sunday, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) launched a large-scale operation to hunt down fighters from the so-called Islamic State in a far-reaching swath of the country, including in the desert of northern Anbar province, southern Nineveh, and western Salahuddin.

Read More: Iraq launches military operations to track down ISIS following its resurgence

As a result of 11 airstrikes conducted by the Coalition in support of the ICTS operations, “a number of terrorists got killed,” the ICTS wrote on Twitter.

The forces also destroyed “eight caves belonging to terrorists and a mini-factory, manufacturing Improvised Explosive Device (IED),” the elite force added in its statement.  

The operations took place on the mountain of Ghurra, located south of Dibis district in Kirkuk province, the ICTS said.

Top Kurdistan Region officials and Peshmerga commanders have repeatedly warned the international community, as well as the Iraqi government, that the Islamic State remains active and capable of reasserting itself to resume its campaign of violence and threaten Iraq, as well as countries beyond it.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany