Baghdad (Iraq): The Iraqi military said that as many as eight Islamic State (IS) terrorists on Saturday were killed in airstrikes conducted by the US-led coalition aircraft in the central Iraqi province of Salahudin.
Acting on an intelligence tip-off, a joint force from Salahudin's Operations Command, backed by Iraqi and US-led coalition aircraft, conducted an operation to hunt down the IS terrorists in a desert area in the west of the provincial capital Tikrit, said a statement by the media office of the Joint Operations Command (JOC).
Also read: Hurricane Lorenzo strengthens to Category 5 in Atlantic Ocean
During the operation, the coalition aircraft pounded IS positions and killed the eight terrorists, while the troops destroyed four of their hideouts, of which one was booby-trapped, the statement said.
The terrorists were using the hideouts as warehouses for their various supplies.
The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after the country's security forces fully defeated the extremist IS terrorists across the country late in 2017.
IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent hit-and-run attacks against security forces and civilians.