ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces on Sunday announced the killing of several alleged Islamic State (ISIS) members, including two suicide bombers in Salahaddin province. Other suspects of the terror group were also arrested across several Iraqi provinces.
Iraqi airstrikes targeted ISIS positions north of Lake Tharthar, killing three alleged ISIS members, Iraqi Security Media Cell said.
The death toll of ISIS militants climbed to five after the Iraqi forces clashed with two militants wearing explosive vests in the same area, leading to the killing of both ISIS suspects, it added.
"The force found a very large tunnel containing large numbers of explosive devices ... in addition to finding a house used by ISIS terrorist gangs to hide the explosive devices," said the cell. A vehicle containing explosive devices and weapons was also discovered on the scene.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.
The security forces also announced the arrest of several suspected ISIS members, including a leader of the terror group, in four Iraqi provinces.
Six militants were arrested in Kirkuk province "including an ISIS terrorist leader who entered the province with a fake identity, and he is one of those responsible for blowing up oil pipelines," according to the cell.
Additionally, more than a dozen ISIS affiliates were detained in the provinces of Nineveh, Anbar, and Diyala.
Iraqi forces often target members of the terror group.
Iraqi warplanes on Monday killed seven ISIS suspects after an airstrike hit their location in the Makhmour mountains in Erbil.
Two Iraqi soldiers were killed in clashes with the terror group in Salahaddin on Tuesday.
In its propaganda magazine on Thursday, ISIS claimed to have conducted 12 attacks in Iraq from May 11 to May 19, killing and injuring 26 people.
