Iraqi fighter jet kills three suspected ISIS members in Kirkuk
The strike was conducted against a hideout in Wadi Al-Shai (Valley of Tea), in the southern remote area of the oil-rich province.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi airstrike killed at least three suspected ISIS militants in southern Kirkuk on Friday, according to a statement from the Joint Operations Command.
The strike was conducted against a hideout in Wadi Al-Shai (Valley of Tea), in the southern remote area of the oil-rich province. At least three bodies were found on the scene after the strike, the press release noted.
In addition to destroying the hideout, weapons and cash were confiscated, it added.
Iraqi fighter jets regularly conduct strikes against suspected positions of ISIS cells in the country’s remote areas, which have become a hotbed for the militants, according to security experts.
Despite its territorial defeat in 2017, the group still poses low-level insurgencies against security forces and civilians.
Once controlling large swathes of land in both Iraq and Syria, the group’s militants are estimated to include 6,000-10,000 fighters, according to a United Nations report from last July.
Previously providing air support for Iraqi forces on the ground, the US-led coalition against ISIS no longer conducts combat missions. Instead, they moved to an advisory role in late 2021.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in January, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani explained the need for continued US presence in Iraq due to the threat that ISIS still poses by saying “the presence of the US-led international coalition against ISIS in his country is necessary to assist and train both the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi army.