ERBIL, Kurdistan – Two ISIS militants, including a suicide-bomber who self-detonated, were killed during clashes with Iraqi security forces in northern Iraq on Wednesday, according to Baghdad’s Security Media Cell.
“After intensive monitoring and the use of technical and intelligence resources, a force from the second battalion of the 88th [Iraqi Army] Brigade and Military Intelligence Directorate detachments within the Eastern Salahaddin Operations Command set up an ambush in the Palkana area in Tuz district [north of Salahaddin province],” the cell stated, adding that “the operation successfully eliminated a cell consisting of four ISIS terrorists.”
“The ambush resulted in casualties within the terrorist group, with two killed - one of whom was a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt - and others wounded,” the cell added, noting that the Iraqi forces were also “supported by drones from the Military Intelligence Directorate.”
Earlier on Wednesday, an advisor to the Salahaddin governor, Kawa Sheikhani, told Rudaw that the ambush “to root out four ISIS militants was set in an area between the town of Kifri [in Sulaimani province] and the town of Tuz Khurmatu [in the district of Tuz in Salahaddin province, 175 km north of Baghdad].”
An informed security source in Tuz Khurmatu, who spoke to Rudaw on conditions of anonymity, corroborated Sheikhani’s remarks stating that “ISIS militants clashed with Iraqi forces and the suicide bomber was the group’s commander in Salahaddin province. The other militants managed to escape to [their hideout in] Palakan mountain [east of Salahaddin].”
“The Iraqi army had detected the militants’ movement through thermal cameras,” the source noted, adding that “no injuries were recorded among Iraqi forces.”
Kifri is part of Sulaimani’s Garmiyan administration and borders areas held by the Iraqi federal government. Erbil and Baghdad have been working jointly to address security gaps between their territories, which have allowed ISIS militants room to maneuver.
The head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell in late February confirmed to Rudaw that Iraqi security forces have largely eradicated ISIS from the country, with only a few hundred militants remaining in remote areas.
Major General Saad Maan stated that some 400 to 600 ISIS militants are still scattered across uninhabitable regions of Iraq, emphasizing that local communities “are rejecting their presence, and no one is harboring them.”
He further explained that "for over a year, we have not faced direct attacks from ISIS and the number of explosions” caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or suicide-bombers “has been minimal.” He underscored that Iraqi forces “are taking the initiative to strike first.”
