Airstrike targets Islamic State hideout southwest of Kirkuk

KIRKUK – Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said Tuesday its air force destroyed an “important” Islamic State hideout in Wadi al-Shay, southwest of Kirkuk, in an airstrike carried out by F-16 fighter jets.

The command said the strike was based on intelligence from the Military Intelligence Directorate and coordinated with its targeting cell. “In a precise operation and with exceptional intelligence efforts, our air force once again unleashed its firepower on terrorism, turning one of its important targets into ashes,” the statement read. It added that all militants inside the site were killed.

The statement said security forces’ combined efforts “continue to yield results in delivering just retribution to the remnants of the defeated ISIS gangs.” More details are expected to be released later.

ISIS declared a caliphate in 2014, capturing Mosul, Tikrit, and other cities before being ousted by Iraqi forces, Kurdish Peshmerga, and a U.S.-led coalition in 2017. Its last Syrian stronghold fell in 2019, but cells remain active in rural and desert areas.

Last week, military intelligence said it destroyed five ISIS hideouts in Wadi al-Aghri in Anbar. In August, Iraqi officials said ISIS no longer poses a strategic threat in the country, citing daily sweeps and intelligence operations. Armed forces spokesperson Sabah al-Numan said at the time that militants “are receiving continuous blows, thanks to the determination and vigilance of our forces.”