Baghdad, 24 November (IANS). Iraq’s National Security Service (INSS) announced that it destroyed an Islamic State (IS) cell in the country’s northern province of Kirkuk. During this period, six ‘IS’ terrorists were arrested. These also include the group leader of the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
Based on intelligence reports and in coordination with regional Kurdish security forces, Iraqi security personnel raided a house on Saturday, INSS said in a statement. Seven IS militants had gathered in the provincial capital Kirkuk, located about 250 kilometers north of Baghdad.
According to Xinhua news agency, the statement said that during the raid there was a clash between the two sides, due to which one terrorist committed suicide and the other six were arrested.
One of those arrested is reportedly a leader of the ‘IS’ group in the Kurdistan region, the statement said. They were planning attacks on government facilities and senior officials in Kirkuk province.
Earlier, five terrorists of ‘Islamic State’ (IS) were killed in an air strike in the northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk. The Iraqi Army had confirmed this on Saturday.
This was confirmed in a statement by Security Media Cell, a media outlet affiliated with Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, Xinhua news agency reported.
Iraqi forces on Friday carried out airstrikes on IS positions in a rugged area west of the provincial capital Kirkuk, about 250 kilometers north of Baghdad, according to the statement. On Saturday morning, a joint force of Iraqi military and intelligence searched the site of the bombing. During this period, bodies of five ‘terrorists’ were recovered.
The security situation in Iraq has improved since the defeat of IS in 2017. However, IS’s remnants have infiltrated into urban centres, deserts and rugged terrain and are continuing guerrilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
–IANS
SCH/MK
