ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A number of Islamic State (ISIS) members were killed in an operation carried out by the Iraqi air force against the terror group in the north of the country, a military official said on Monday.
F-16 jets launched four airstrikes eastern Makhoul Mount in Salahaddin, killing four ISIS members, Iraq's top military spokesperson Yehia Rasool said in a tweet.
The operation against the terror group come two days after an airstrike killed three ISIS members, including two leaders in the south of Hatra city in Iraq.
Iraqi and security forces often carry out operations against members of the terror group.
ISIS seized control of swathes of land in Iraq 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. ISIS remnants are particularly active in parts of northern Iraq that are disputed by Erbil and Baghdad, including in the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala, and Salahaddin.
Fear and concern of the terror group's re-emergence are increasing as it has been clashing with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria (Rojava) for the fifth day now, following an escape attempt from a prison housing thousands of ISIS affiliates and members.
A US military official on Sunday said the Iraqi and Kurdish border guards are capable of preventing ISIS members from crossing the Syria-Iraq border.
ISIS killed 11 Iraqi soldiers in Diyala province on Friday.
The terror group launched over 257 offensives, killing 387 and injuring 518 people, including Iraqi and Kurdish fighters over the past year.
In its propaganda magazine on Thursday, ISIS claimed to have conducted 6 attacks in Iraq from January 13 to January 19, killing and injuring 17 people.
