Aerial footage shows figures on the ground moments before an airstrike, as highlighted in a red circle, in a video released by the Joint Operations Command.
Iraqi forces strike ISIS sites in Kirkuk after months-long tracking effort
KIRKUK — Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said Sunday it carried out a precision airstrike that destroyed several ISIS positions in Kirkuk governorate after a three-month intelligence operation.
In a statement, the command said the strike was “a specialized operation marked by precision in performance,” based on detailed intelligence from the Falcons Intelligence Cell and the Military Intelligence Directorate. It said the targets had been tracked for three months in the Kirkuk Operations sector.
The airstrikes were conducted by the Counter-Terrorism Service under the direct supervision of its commander and senior officers, with technical coordination from the international coalition and “continuous monitoring” by the Joint Operations Command targeting cell.
According to the statement, “five important ISIS targets were struck with precise airstrikes,” adding that all hits were direct. It said the mission was still ongoing and that additional details would be released later.
The command said Iraqi forces “continue, through experience, accurate information and ongoing field efforts, to strike the hideouts of terrorism and deliver just retribution to its defeated elements.”
ISIS lost its territorial strongholds in Iraq in 2017 after Iraqi forces, Kurdish Peshmerga and a U.S.-led coalition retook cities including Mosul and Tikrit. The militant group’s final holdout in Syria fell in 2019, but remnants continue to operate in remote rural and desert areas.