Four members of Islamic State killed in Salahuddin operation

Salahuddin (Iraqinews.com) – Four Islamic State (IS) militants were killed Tuesday during a military operation in Salauddin province, the Iraqi Security Media Center announced.

“Security forces, backed by Iraqi warplanes, managed to kill four members of Islamic State within the framework of the Martyrs’ Revenge Operation recently announced by Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi,” Iraqi website Alforatnews quoted the center as saying in a statement Tuesday.

The troops also destroyed an Islamic State hotbed in the operation, the statement read.

Meanwhile, another security source said that a laboratory used by IS militants for making bombs was destroyed on the outskirts of Mtaibijh area between Diyala and Salahuddin.

Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence last November with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.

IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.

Islamic State has been largely defeated in the country last December, however, it still poses a threat across Iraq.