Iraqi Security Forces Launch Operation To Clear ISIS Operatives From Kirkuk

Iraq’s army and other security forces have launched operations to clear Islamic State operatives out of the country’s northern province of Kirkuk. Iraq announced in December 2017 that all Islamic State terrorists had been removed from its territory, but pockets of ISIS operatives have remained in the Hamrin mountain region near Kirkuk since then and occasionally launch small terror attacks on Iraqi civilian and military targets. The Iraqi army said in a statement on Wednesday that “extensive security operations” had been launched in Kirkuk province in an effort to rid the area of ISIS operatives, according to the Mehr News Agency. These ISIS operatives have increased their attacks on Sunni provinces in the north in recent months.