ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least 12 Islamic State (ISIS) militants were killed on Mount Qarachogh in the disputed territory of Makhmour, Erbil province in a joint operation by Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the US-led coalition in the early hours of Wednesday, a top Iraqi army official announced.
"Based on accurate intelligence information, 59 air strikes were directed against the caves and bunkers that the ISIS terrorist gangs were holed up [on Mount Qarachough]," tweeted Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool, spokesperson of the Iraqi Armed Forces.
Rasool added that Iraqi Counter-Terror Forces were also involved in the operation.
The Iraqi army official also shared footage purported to show ground troops and multiple armed vehicles supported by helicopters hovering around the region during the operation.
ISIS has made no mention of the attack on its propaganda channels.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces control the summit of Mount Qarachogh, 60 km southwest of Erbil, but were forced out of the towns and villages of the valleys below when the Iraqi Army and Shiite paramilitias seized control of Makhmour in October 2017.
A Peshmerga source who did not want to be named told Rudaw English that the Peshmerga were informed of the operation before it began.
Having lost all of its urban strongholds, ISIS is now most active in Iraq's remote deserts and mountains, and in the disputed territories contested by the federal government and the autonomous Kurdish region, where a security vacuum has opened up.
Kurdish commanders have on various occasions announced that Peshmerga Forces must be allowed to return to the disputed territories to flush out the militants before ISIS regains its strength.
Today's operation comes as the Iraqi security forces launched a new phase of an anti-ISIS operation dubbed 'Heroes of Iraq: Phase Three' on Monday, in northern areas of the country where remnants of the extremist militant group are continuing to wreak havoc.
The first phase of the operation was announced in mid-May, with a focus on the provinces of Anbar, Nineveh and Salahaddin. Phase two was announced on June 2, targeting ISIS holdouts on the fringes of Salahaddin and Kirkuk.
It has remained unclear whether or not today's air and ground campaign was part of the operation.
But Rasool said this operation was conducted to "complete the series of specific operations that we carry out in the rugged mountainous areas."
