Security gaps along Kirkuk border aid ISIS remnants
Shafaq News- Kirkuk
A security gap along the border between Iraq’s northern Kirkuk Province and the Kurdistan Region is allowing ISIS remnants to move and hide, a senior Iraqi official revealed on Sunday, citing limited coordination between federal security forces and Peshmerga units deployed in the area.
Speaking to Shafaq News, Ahmed Ramzi Kuperlu, head of the Security and Defense Committee in Kirkuk’s Provincial Council, urged both sides to take urgent steps to strengthen coordination and establish a more stable security framework to protect civilians and reinforce stability across Kirkuk and nearby districts.
He also described the recent operation by Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) in the mountainous belt north of Kirkuk as a “painful blow” to ISIS, crediting the force’s readiness and professionalism.
On Saturday, Iraqi F-16 Fighting Falcon jets conducted three airstrikes targeting remaining ISIS hideouts in Kirkuk province. The renewed air campaign followed a ground operation launched to inspect sites struck on July 4. During the sweep, Iraqi forces came under fire, resulting in the death of one ISIS militant and a first lieutenant from Iraq’s CTS.
Despite its territorial defeat in 2017, ISIS continues to operate in Iraq as an insurgent network in remote desert and rural areas, particularly in Diyala, Kirkuk, Saladin, and Al-Anbar provinces. In the first half of 2026, Iraqi security forces dismantled four ISIS cells, carried out around 80 preemptive operations, and issued 479 arrest warrants under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Law, according to Iraq’s Interior Ministry.
Read more: On ISIS defeat anniversary, Iraq confronts a reawakening insurgency
