ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi forces targeted an Islamic State (ISIS) hideout housing several members of the terror group who were behind last week's deadly attack in Diyala province that killed a number of Iraqi soldiers, Iraq's Security Media Cell announced on Saturday night.
F-16 jets launched three precise airstrikes at an ISIS hideout in the Hawi al-Azim area in Diyala province, which resulted in the killing of nine ISIS members, the cell said in a statement.
"After our security forces pledged to take revenge for our heroic martyrs in the great incident ... the heroes in the [Iraqi] National Security Service were able to determine the exact location of the terrorist group ... which carried out this criminal attack," it added.
Eleven Iraqi soldiers were killed in an ISIS attack in Diyala last week. The terror group later claimed responsibility for the offensive.
The cell added that operations are still ongoing to destroy further ISIS hideouts.
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.
Iraqi air force launched airstrikes that killed four ISIS members in Salahaddin province on Monday.
The terror group launched over 257 offensives, killing 387, and injuring 518 people, including Iraqi and Kurdish fighters over the past year.
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