BAGHDAD, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Three Islamic State (IS) militants were killed on Wednesday in airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition in a mountainous area in northern Iraq, the Iraqi military said.

The French aircraft conducted airstrikes on four IS hideouts in Qara-Chokh Mountain near the town of Makhmour, some 60 km southeast of Nineveh's provincial capital Mosul, destroying the hideouts and leaving three IS militants killed, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement.

France is part of a U.S.-led international coalition tasked with helping the Iraqi security forces fight against the IS militants by carrying out airstrikes against their positions in Iraq and Syria as well as providing military equipment and training to Iraqi forces.

In a separate statement, Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, said that after four days of a major offensive against IS militants in the mountain areas of Makhoul and Khanogah, the security forces destroyed 56 IS hideouts and 45 tunnels used by the extremists, in addition to defusing 106 roadside bombs.

On Nov. 8, Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition, began the offensive, and continued in the following days to track down IS militants in Makhoul and Khanogah.

The mountains and vast rural areas north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad have witnessed intense activities for the IS militants during the past months, despite repeated military operations to hunt them down.

The situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the IS across the country late in 2017.

However, IS remnants have since melted in deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)