Iraqi forces launch major operation in Kirkuk following airstrike on ISIS cave

Shafaq News/ On Thursday, Iraqi security forces initiated a wide-scale operation in the southern part of Kirkuk province to recover the remains of ISIS fighters following an airstrike by the Iraqi Air Force, a security source said.

“A joint force from the Iraqi Army has started a security operation in the Hamrin Mountain range and Wadi al-Shay, in the Daquq district, 55 km south of Kirkuk,” the source told Shafaq News Agency.

The operation is ongoing and supported by air cover from Army Aviation, the source said, adding that further details about the operation and yesterday's airstrike will be announced later.

On Wednesday, Iraq’s Security Media Cell reported that “military intelligence, in coordination with the targeting cell of the Joint Operations Command, identified ISIS elements inside a cave in the Hamrin Mountains within the Kirkuk Operations Command sector.”

The airstrike, carried out by the Iraqi Air Force, destroyed the cave completely, killing all the ISIS operatives inside, the statement added.