Iraqi CTS engages ISIS in Kirkuk’s Hamrin Mountains, officer killed

Shafaq News/ Armed clashes broke out, on Monday, between the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and ISIS militants in the Hamrin Mountains in Kirkuk Governorate, a security source reported.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, "The clashes resulted in the death of one member of the Kirkuk Counter-Terrorism Regiment."

Since the beginning of 2024, Iraqi forces have intensified counter-terrorism operations in multiple provinces, including Saladin, Kirkuk, Diyala, and Al-Anbar.

In December, as part of the counter-terrorism operations, Iraqi security forces arrested nine additional ISIS members in Kirkuk and Wasit and killed a militant in an ambush in the Hamrin mountain range.

They also seized weapons and military equipment, including rocket launchers and improvised explosive devices, from caves in the Al-Anbar desert.

Notably, at its peak in 2014, ISIS controlled approximately a third of Syria and 40% of Iraq. However, by December 2017, it had lost 95 percent of its territory, including major cities like Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.

Despite being defeated in Syria in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells continue to carry out deadly attacks against the Syrian army and members of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.