ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi forces on Saturday killed an alleged member of the Islamic State (ISIS) in an ambush in Kirkuk, an informed source told The New Region, adding that the suspect had intended to carry out a “terrorist attack” in a local village.

The incident took place in the Qara Salim village in the Sheikh Bizeni district northwest of the province, where security forces carried out an ambush and killed the suspected ISIS fighter who was “intending to conduct a terrorist act in the village,” a security source said.

The suspect was killed by sniper fire, according to the source.

The New Region’s reporter on the ground noted that a separate security incident had taken place near the area, in the Qaznafar village, where a person was kidnapped. Iraqi forces have been searching for the victim since early Saturday morning.

Despite being territorially defeated in 2017, ISIS militants continue to pose a security threat in Iraq through sporadic hit-and-run operations and attacks on remote areas. Iraqi forces, in cooperation with Kurdish forces, have intensified their efforts to eliminate these remnants.

In May, the defense ministry announced it had killed “several” purported members of the group in a security operation in Kirkuk and destroying their hideouts, which are “used by terrorist groups as shelters and logistical support centers,” according to the ministry statement.

Earlier in the year, Iraq received thousands of ISIS prisoners from Syria in coordination with Washington after a turmoil caused by a January Syrian government offensive in Rojava (northeast Syria) raised fears that detention centers, previously operated by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), would be unable to maintain security amid the conflict.

In February, the US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it had completed the transfer of just over 5,700 adult male ISIS fighters from Syria to Iraq.