Three Islamic State (ISIS) camps have been destroyed in northern Iraq by coalition aircraft in coordination with the Iraqi government, military officials announced Saturday.
ISIS hideouts were targeted in Wadi al-Shai, an area in Kirkuk Province located in the northern part of the country and known to have become an ISIS hideout, officials said.
Hideouts in rural regions in Iraq have become the new modus operandi for the terrorist organization after Iraqi Security Forces and Syrian Democratic Forces destroyed the last ISIS stronghold in March 2019.
“The Iraqi Security Forces have tactical overmatch against ISIS; airstrikes help destroy ISIS targets in terrain difficult to reach by standard vehicles,” Col. Myles B. Caggins III, a coalition military spokesman, said in a statement Saturday. “Blowing up ISIS hideouts in bucolic locations ultimately results in security in cities and villages.”
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Iraqi citizens have largely rejected the presence of ISIS in Iraq and have helped to drive the terrorists into rural desert and mountain areas, after being reportedly “liberated from formerly ISIS-held areas,” according to military officials Saturday.
U.S. military personnel continue to encourage Iraqi citizens to come forward with information about ISIS and to contact local security officials.
“Each Coalition precision airstrike is conducted at the request of the Government of Iraq to help achieve a permanent defeat of Daesh,” Caggins said.
ISIS regional leaders and operatives continue to be targeted and “neutralized,” according to military officials, forcing them to hide in rural areas.
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The State Department has also encouraged people to come forward with information regarding Muhammad Khadir Musa Ramadan, a senior ISIS leader responsible for the organization’s use of propaganda and in the creation of the gruesome videos that ISIS has become known for.
“Muhammad Khadir Musa Ramadan is one of ISIS’s longest-serving senior media officials,” a State Department spokesperson told Fox News last month. “Ramadan oversees the group’s daily media operations, including the management of content from ISIS’s dispersed global network of supporters.”
A $3 million reward has been placed on his head for any information surrounding him and his whereabouts.
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“The Coalition and our partners will continue to maintain relentless pressure on the terrorist organization,” a statement released by U.S. Central Command said Saturday.
“In addition to military operations, the Coalition has significantly disrupted and degraded ISIS propaganda operations, finance, and human trafficking networks.”
