Airstrike kills 5 Daesh militants in Iraq’s Kirkuk

By Hussein al-Amir

BAGHDAD (AA) – Five Daesh militants were killed in an airstrike in Iraq’s oil-rich Kirkuk province on Saturday, according to an Iraqi police officer.

A warplane, believed to belong to the U.S.-led coalition, struck a Daesh position in al-Rashad district, south-west of Kirkuk, Police Capt. Hamed al-Obaidi told Anadolu Agency.

Saturday’s attack came two days after eight Daesh bombers and two security personnel were killed in clashes in south-western Kirkuk.

According to al-Obaidi, Iraqi security forces and the U.S.-led coalition have stepped up their surveillance of southwestern Kirkuk upon a tip-off about increasing Daesh activity in the area.

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled over operations backed by the U.S.-led International Alliance.

However, from time to time, Iraqi officials announce operations against Daesh-affiliated "sleeper cells" in certain parts of the country, including oil-rich Kirkuk.