Iraqi military launches new operation in Diyala, Saladin 

The operation covers parts of Saladin and Diyala, particularly in Wadi Al-Uzzem, where numerous hideouts allegedly used by ISIS remnants are located.
An Iraqi soldier stands guard during a joint Iraqi Army-Peshmerga operation in Dawooda region. (Photo: Harem Jaff/Kurdistan 24)
An Iraqi soldier stands guard during a joint Iraqi Army-Peshmerga operation in Dawooda region. (Photo: Harem Jaff/Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) launched a new operation in Diyala and Saladin provinces in search of ISIS militants on Wednesday, the military's media announced. 

The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) paramilitary are also participating in the operation launched at dawn by the army, the Security Media Cell announced. The ground forces are also receiving air support from the Iraqi Air Force.

The operation covers parts of Saladin and Diyala, particularly in Wadi Al-Uzzem, where numerous hideouts allegedly used by ISIS remnants are located.

A senior Iraqi military delegation, consisting of the army's chief of staff and deputy commander of the Joint Operations Command, arrived in Diyala and met with the PMF commanders to discuss the operation. 

Iraqi forces regularly conduct operations in remote northern and western parts of the country where ISIS militants are still present. 

On Tuesday, the Iraqi military announced it had killed eight suspected ISIS leaders in three airstrikes in Wadi Al Tharthar in western Saladin. 

According to a statement from the Joint Operations Command, those militants are believed to have been complicit in many "terrorist activities" in Kirkuk, Diyala, and Saladin. 

A unit from the army collected DNA samples from the remains of the militants to verify their identities, the statement added. 

Since losing all the territory that made up the Iraq part of its self-styled caliphate in 2017, ISIS has reverted to an insurgency campaign targeting Iraqi and Kurdish forces and civilians. It primarily operates from rural areas and has extorted and "taxed" farmers and villagers to finance its attacks. 

In late May, twin ISIS ambushes in Nineveh and Kirkuk provinces killed at least 12 civilians and police officers. Also, on Monday, an Arab shepherd was allegedly abducted by ISIS in southern Kirkuk.