Five Islamic State members killed, 12 suspects arrested in Kirkuk
A statement by Kirkuk Operations Command said, “Federal Police troops in the province carried out an operation in regions and villages of Tal Shu’air, Codilla, Eteira, Suleiman Bakhshan, Qulli Bek, Dakuk and al-Khaldiya.”
Troops, according to the statement, “managed to kill five militants and left the sixth wounded in a village during confrontations.”
Moreover, three rest houses and a tunnel of 15 meters long were destroyed, the command added.
“12 suspects were also arrested,” the statement said.
On Monday, news reports quoted sources as saying that seven people were killed as Islamic State members attacked al-Bu Shaher village, near Yayji town, west of Kirkuk.
In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014. However, Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country. The group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.
Thousands of militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.