...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(ISIS) in western Kirkuk province.
"A force from the 61st Brigade, affiliated with the Northern and East Tigris Operations Command of the Popular Mobilization Forces, in coordination with units of the 3rd Division of the Federal Police, launched a large-scale security operation," Nabil Issa al-Bashiri, Deputy Commander of Kirkuk Operations for PMF, told Iraq's state media.
Bashiri detailed that the sweeping and searching operation was carried out in the Hawi Sadr al-Nahr area west of Kirkuk province, a region "overlooking the Zab River, to pursue and eliminate remnants of ISIS terrorist gangs."
"The operation was launched based on accurate intelligence information, which indicated suspicious movements in the area that may be linked to remnants of ISIS elements," he said.
The military official stressed that the operation aimed to "comb the lands and areas surrounding the river and prevent their exploitation by terrorist elements, in addition to enhancing security and stability in the villages and neighboring areas."
The official, however, did not detail whether or not they arrested any suspects during the combing operation.
Wednesday's operation comes just three days after Iraq's Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency’s counter-terrorism units in Kirkuk arrested three suspected ISIS members.