Iraqi F-16s target 9 ISIS suspects in retaliation for deadly attack on army
The strike targeted the militants in Hawi al-Azim in the province's east, near where 11 Iraqi army soldiers were killed by ISIS on Jan. 21
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Air Force killed nine suspected ISIS militants in an airstrike on Diyala province on Saturday in retaliation for that group's bloody raid on an army outpost, the military announced.
The strike targeted the militants in Hawi al-Azim in the province's east, near where 11 Iraqi army soldiers were killed by ISIS on Jan. 21, in the bloodiest attack the group has carried out against the army in 2022.
Three precision strikes by Iraqi F-16s "killed" nine militants, the military announced, adding that they were perpetrators of the deadly Jan. 21 attack.
The Iraqi Army regularly conducts operations in the north and west of the country to prevent an ISIS resurgence and remnants of the group from attacking civilians and military targets. The air force also carries out frequent strikes against suspected ISIS targets.
The Iraqi government announced the territorial defeat of the group in late 2017. However, despite this, ISIS has ramped up attacks in recent months in rural and urban areas, particularly in the disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad.