CTS kills 3 ISIS commanders in Balkana Mountains

Shafaq News – Kirkuk/Saladin

Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) eliminated, on Sunday, three ISIS members in the Balkana mountain range along the border between Saladin and Kirkuk provinces.

In a statement, CTS reported that the coordinated raid with al-Sulaymaniyah Asayish forces killed the ISIS commander for the Suleiman Bek sector and a senior officer from the so-called “Abu Musa al-Ashari” sector in Kirkuk province in a “well-planned ambush.”

A security source told Shafaq News that the operation was successful without providing further details.

Although declared territorially defeated in 2017, ISIS continues to operate sleeper cells engaged in guerrilla attacks, assassinations, kidnappings, and extortion across Iraq.

Last Thursday, CTS forces neutralized two senior ISIS leaders during clashes in Wadi Zghaitoun, including the group’s so-called governor of Riyadh subdistrict and a local military commander.