Airstrike leaves casualties among IS militants southwest of Kirkuk
Smoke rises after an airstrike, during the battle against Islamic State militants, at the district of al-Mamoun in Mosul, Iraq, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani – RTS10XG7
Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) 17 militants of the Islamic State were killed and injured in a strike launched by the US-led coalition, southwest of Kirkuk, a security source from the province said on Thursday.
Speaking to AlSumaria News, the source said, “the airstrikes by the international coalition striked on Thursday sites of the IS in villages of Olw Borhan, al-Sheikh Zakaa and al-Khabbaz, 35 KM southwest of Kirkuk. Seven members were killed including a prominent leader, while ten others were injured.”
“The airstrike was launched in coordination with Iraqi intelligence authorities,” the source, who preferred anonymity said.
Military operations in Iraq are resumed at places where IS control it. International coalition launch airstrikes against the IS sites leaving casualties.
Islamic State has been holding areas in southwestern Kirkuk since the group emerged in 2014 to announce a self-styled “Islamic Caliphate” In Iraq. It has executed hundreds of civilians in Kirkuk for collaborating with security forces or attempting to escape those areas.
The Iraqi government is expected to launch an offensive to retake IS-occupied areas in Kirkuk once it is done with eradicating IS from Mosul, the group’s biggest bastion in Iraq where U.S.-backed government troops and allied militias have entered a sixth month of operations seeking to recapture the city.