Shafaq News/ On Saturday, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) reported that its air force struck an ISIS hideout in the Hamrin Mountains, successfully eliminating four ISIS operatives.

The statement detailed that "precise intelligence" from the Military Intelligence Directorate and sustained surveillance led to locating the militant cell over two days.

"At 06:20 p.m., Iraqi F-16 jets launched a decisive strike on the location near the Kirkuk and Saladin border, destroying the hideout along with weapons, ammunition, and explosive materials."

In 2014, ISIS seized vast territories across Iraq and Syria under its then-leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who declared an Islamic caliphate from the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, Nineveh’s provincial capital. This so-called caliphate extended across regions with millions of inhabitants.

Although Iraq defeated ISIS territorially by 2017, the group continues to pose a significant threat. ISIS has adapted to its loss by shifting to insurgency tactics, using small, mobile units that carry out attacks from remote, rugged areas, targeting Iraqi security forces and maintaining a disruptive presence.