ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraqi counterterrorism forces on Friday announced targeting an alleged Islamic State (ISIS) hideout south of Kirkuk, killing two members of the militant group.

“An airstrike carried out by the Falcons of the Air, based on intelligence provided by the heroes of the Counter-Terrorism Service, resulted in the killing of two remnants of the terrorist ISIS gangs in the Wadi al-Shay area,” read a statement from the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS).

ISIS remnants have entrenched themselves in southern Kirkuk’s Wadi al-Shay area for years, resulting in frequent airstrikes from the Iraqi army and counterterrorism forces.

In May, an air raid on an ISIS hideout in Wadi al-Shay killed at least three members of the militant group, and a fourth individual was killed after he was spotted during “an armed reconnaissance by the army's aviation” units to comb the area.

ISIS took control of swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory in 2014, declaring its so-called caliphate with the Iraqi city of Mosul as its capital. They were territorially defeated with assistance from the US-led coalition forces in Iraq in 2017.

Despite their territorial defeat, 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.