Iraqi troops kill 15 Islamic State jihadists in Salahuddin

Salahuddin (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service announced on Monday that 15 Islamic Sate militants were killed during a security operation in Salahuddin province.

“Acting on intelligence information, the Counter-Terrorism Service, in coordination with the U.S.-led international coalition, carried out a security operation in Mutaibijah and desert areas in Salahuddin, leaving 15 terrorists dead, including suicide bombers,” the spokesman for the Counter-Terrorism Service said in a statement.

“The troops also arrested nine terrorists and destroyed several hotbeds and tunnels that were used by Islamic State militants,” the statement read.

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.

Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country.