Iraqi troops kill two IS militants, destroy three hotbeds in Kirkuk
A Shi’ite volunteer wearing a mask, who has joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), looks on during a parade on a street in Kanaan, Diyala province, June 26, 2014.
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) – A joint force killed on Tuesday two Islamic State militants and detonated three terrorist hotbeds in the oil-rich Iraqi province of Kirkuk, a security source was quoted as saying.
Speaking to Baghdad Today news website, the source said that a security force made up of the Iraqi anti-terrorism service and the U.S. Special Forces killed two IS terrorists in al-Riyadh district in southwestern Kirkuk.
“The forces also found an explosive charge and detonated three IS hotbeds in al-Arisha village in Kirkuk.
Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in November 2017 with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.
IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.
Last December, former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over the terrorist Islamic State group three years after the militant group captured about a third of Iraq’s territory.