Shafaq News- Kirkuk

Iraq's Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) killed an ISIS militant during an operation on the outskirts of Altun Kupri, north of Kirkuk province, a security source told Shafaq News on Saturday.

CTS forces raided the hideout where the militant had been sheltering without sustaining any casualties. The mission, according to the source, formed part of a series of preemptive operations targeting ISIS remnants in the areas between Kirkuk and Saladin, where the group remains intermittently active.

Security forces continue search and clearance operations to locate additional hideouts and monitor suspicious movements.

Although ISIS lost its territorial strongholds in Iraq in 2017, it continues to operate as an insurgent network in desert and rural areas, particularly in Diyala, Kirkuk, Saladin, and Al-Anbar. In the first half of 2026, the Interior Ministry reported that security forces dismantled four ISIS cells, carried out about 80 preemptive operations, and issued 479 arrest warrants under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Law.

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