The strike in territories disputed between the federal Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is the latest in an ongoing effort by Baghdad to rid the country of ISIS cells, in areas where a security vacuum allows them to operate.
The Iraqi air force “carried out successful airstrikes using F-16 aircraft, targeting a terrorist hideout in the al-Aith area within the Salahaddin Operations Command sector,” the Iraqi army’s Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
Six ISIS members were killed in the strikes, according to the statement, which said that the operation was “in revenge for the martyrs of Kirkuk.”
On Wednesday, an ISIS ambush in western Kirkuk province - which also falls in the disputed territories - killed four Iraqi army soldiers. At least six suspected ISIS members, including a leader, were killed in an operation carried out by Iraqi forces in Kirkuk on September 19.
ISIS seized control of vast swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014, sweeping across vast stretches of northern and central Iraq.
But the jihadists’ so-called “caliphate” was brought to an end in 2017 as Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, supported by a US-led international coalition, clawed back territory from the group.
Despite its territorial defeat, ISIS has continued to pose security threats in Iraq through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions, particularly in the disputed territories that stretch across several provinces including Diyala, Salahaddin, Kirkuk, and Nineveh.
In late August, a joint operation by the Iraqi army and US forces in the western Anbar province killed 16 ISIS militants, and the US military later said that the operation killed four ISIS leaders.
On Saturday, the Iraqi army announced that over 100 ISIS members have been killed since the beginning of the year.
