Four Islamic State members killed by army airstrike in Nineveh

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Four Islamic State militants were killed in an airstrike carried out by Iraqi army in Nineveh province, security sources were quoted saying.

Iraqi fighter jets targeted six locations of IS remnants at the boundaries of Hammam al-Alil, south of Mosul, Col. Abdul Salam al-Jabouri, of the army, told Anadolu agency on Saturday.

“Some havens by the Tigris River and on islands in the river, where the militants are hiding, were targeted,” he added.

Meanwhile, Cap. Ahmed al-Jabouri, of the military’s Nineveh Operations Command, said “four IS members were killed due to the airstrikes there.”

“The shelling took place simultaneously with an operation on the ground carried out by Federal Police to destroy the IS hideouts, from which they attack surrounding regions,” he said.

“Federal Police cordoned off the region and used boats to invade it in search for militants,” he added.

On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over IS militants who had held the second largest Iraqi city since 2014. More than 25000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016.

Since the city was declared free, security troops continue to comb western Mosul areas for hidden IS cells. Despite the victory over IS there in the city, observers say IS is believed to constitute a security threat even after the group’s defeat at its main havens across Iraqi provinces.

A government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition has been fighting, since October 2016, the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.