ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iraqi military officer was killed while clashing with Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Kirkuk province on Sunday, counter-terrorism forces announced, as an operation to clear the province of the group’s sleeper cells entered its second day.
“It is with profound sorrow and grief that we announce to our honorable Iraqi people the martyrdom of the heroic fighter, First Lieutenant Hassan Khudhair Zughair… during clashes with ISIS terrorist gangs in Kirkuk province,” the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) said in a statement.
Footage obtained by Rudaw showed Iraqi fighter jets and helicopters hovering over the skies of Kirkuk on Sunday as an operation by the army and security forces to clear the area of ISIS entered its second day. One ISIS suspect was killed on the first day of the campaign.
The ICTS vowed to continue operations against ISIS remnants, stating its forces will spare no effort to “purge” the country from the “clutches of these terrorist gangs.”
The Security Media Cell announced on Saturday that Iraqi F-16 fighter jets, backed by the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, “carried out successful and precise airstrikes” against ISIS positions in the Dibis district of northern Kirkuk province, targeting what it described as “dens and hideouts of terrorist gangs” used by militants in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
ISIS seized large swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in 2014 before being defeated in 2017 after three years of intense fighting. Despite its defeat, the group continues to pose a security threat, particularly in disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad, spanning the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Salahaddin.
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