Iraqi Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons conduct a training mission over Iraq May 26, 2019. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Russ Scalf)
The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF) have carried out two waves of airstrikes against several hideouts of ISIS, killing a number of terrorists.
On August 15, F-16IQ fighter jets of the IQAF destroyed a hideout of ISIS cells in Wadi al-Chai, a valley located in the southern part of the northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk. The Iraqi Security Media Cell said that all the terrorists who were present at the hideout at the time of the airstrikes were killed.
The next day, August 16, a series of airstrikes by F-16IQ fighter jets hit another hideout of ISIS to the west of the city of Tuz Khurma in the central province of Saladin. In a brief statement, the IQAF said that three terrorists were killed in the airstrikes.
The Iraqi military, security forces and intelligence stepped up counter-terrorism operations in recent weeks in response to a series of attacks by ISIS that targeted the country’s electrical grid. The attacks, which mainly targeted electricity towers, led to blackouts in different parts of Iraq amid scorching summer heat.
Iraq announced the defeat of ISIS in 2017. However, the terrorist groups continue to wage an insurgency, mainly in the western, northern and eastern regions.
The recent operations by the IQAF inflicted some losses on ISIS. However, more efforts are still needed to contain the threat posed by the group.
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