Shafaq News-Baghdad
An officer inIraq's Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) was killed in armed clashes with ISISmilitants in the northern province of Kirkuk, the head of the service, Karimal-Tamimi, announced Sunday.
FirstLieutenant Hassan Khudair Zaghir died during a wide-scale operation againstISIS that CTS units have conducted since Saturday, backed by Iraqi warplanes,in the Altun Kupri area north of Kirkuk, along the boundary with Erbilprovince.
Earlier, asecurity source told Shafaq News that three airstrikes hit suspected ISIS hideoutson the outskirts of Altun Kupri, and CTS forces killed an ISIS member in aseparate raid nearby the same day.
ISIS lost itslast territorial holdings in Iraq in 2017 but continues to operate as aninsurgent network in rural and desert areas of Kirkuk, Diyala, Saladin, andal-Anbar, relying on hit-and-run attacks. Kirkuk is an oil-rich provinceclaimed by both the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan RegionalGovernment, and its contested security status has long left gaps that the groupexploits.