Iraqi security forces on Thursday liquidated an Islamic State (IS, a group banned in the Russian Federation) militant who tried to shoot down a military plane in the northern province of Salah al-Din.
"During an [anti-terrorist] operation in Salah al-Din province that involved the air force for air cover, an IS militant attempted to open direct fire on the aircraft of the army air command. The terrorist was immediately killed and another wounded," Yahya Rasul, spokesman for the Iraqi Armed Forces commander in chief, wrote on Twitter.
IS militants occupied about a third of Iraqi territory in the summer of 2014. In June of that year, they captured the country's second largest city, Mosul, and declared it the capital of the so-called caliphate. In 2015, with the support of the international coalition, government forces launched a large-scale campaign to liberate areas that had fallen under extremist control. Since the group's defeat in Iraq, announced by authorities in December 2017, the security situation has improved markedly, and attacks, including terrorist attacks and other sorties, have declined.
Security agencies continue to conduct raids in different areas to disrupt the terrorist underground, which still attacks law enforcement, the army and civilians, mainly in Iraq's northern provinces.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS