18 Daesh terrorists killed in twin army ops in N. Iraq

By Hussein al-Amir

BAGHDAD (AA) - At least 18 members of the Daesh terrorist group were killed in two separate army operations in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk and Saladin provinces, according to official sources.

In a Thursday statement, Iraqi police spokesman Yehia Rasool said that army forces, with support from U.S.-led coalition aircraft, had bombed an underground tunnel used by terrorists in Saladin.

“Eight terrorists were killed instantly and another three were hunted down and killed by police,” he said.

Rasool added that a number of small arms, mobile devices, food items and a generator were found inside the tunnel after the bombing.

In a related development, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced early Thursday that another seven Daesh terrorists had been killed in the city of Kirkuk.

According to a ministry statement, the leader of a Daesh training unit in Kirkuk had been among those slain.

In the summer of 2014, Daesh overran much of northern and western Iraq, including Mosul, the country’s second-largest city.

In late 2017, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but destroyed following a three-year war between the terrorist group and the Iraqi army backed by the U.S.-led coalition.