Iraqi troops kill 12 Islamic State militants, southwest of Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi fighter jets have killed twelve Islamic State members, including a prominent leader, southwest of Kirkuk, a security source from the province said on Thursday.

“Federal police troops, backed by army jets, started operations to target the terrorists havens, southwest of Kirkuk,” the source told AlSumaria News. “The troops destroyed, in the evening, six rest houses of IS and killed four militants in al-Rashad town.”

The army jets, according to the source, who preferred anonymity, “targeted one of the havens near al-Zab region, west of Kirkuk, leaving eight militants, including a prominent leader, killed.”

On Tuesday, the Security Media Center said Federal Police troops managed to killed five prominent Islamic State members who took part in the attack against a village in southwest of Kirkuk.

Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country.

Thousands of Islamic State 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.