Iraqi F-16s strike ISIS hideout in Hamrin Mountains

Shafaq News/ Iraqi F-16 aircraft carried out an airstrike on an ISIS hideout within Kirkuk province, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced on Friday.

The JOC stated, “The strike was part of a qualitative operation based on precise intelligence from the Military Intelligence Directorate and continuous monitoring by the JOC's targeting cell…Iraqi F-16 jets successfully and accurately struck a hideout in the Hamrin Mountains, within the Kirkuk Operations Command area,” affirming that security forces are continuing operations to eliminate ISIS.

“The hideout housing four militants was destroyed by the air force, with further details to be provided later,” it added.

Earlier this month, the JOC announced the discovery of five ISIS members' bodies following an airstrike conducted by the Iraqi army against the group in Kirkuk. The command also announced that an airstrike targeted two ISIS members in the same province. Moreover, the JOC's air force struck an ISIS hideout in the Hamrin Mountains, successfully eliminating four ISIS operatives.

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.