Three Islamic State members killed in operation, southwest of Kirkuk
Iraqi forces patrol an area in Iraq during a military operation to push out Islamic State. File Photo
“Based on intelligence information, the second brigade of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) and the Federal Police launched an operation against IS locations in villages of Hawija,” the service said in a statement on Wednesday. “The forces managed to kill three militants and seize tunnels and rest houses.”
Earlier on the day, Alghad Press quoted a source as saying that Security force killed two Islamic State suicide bombers and arrested three others during a military operation to track down IS remnants at a village in Hawija.
In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members.
Iraqi forces, backed by a U.S.-led coalition and paramilitary troops, have been fighting since October 2016 to retake territories Islamic State had occupied. Since then, forces took back the group’s former capital, Mosul, the town of Tal Afar, Kirkuk’s Hawija, and Anbar’s Annah, Rawa and Qaim.
The war against IS has so far displaced at least five million people. Thousands of others fled toward neighboring countries including Syria, Turkey and other European countries, since IS emerged to proclaim its self-styled “caliphate”.