BAGHDAD, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out an airstrike on a hideout of the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants in central Iraq, killing all IS terrorists inside, the Iraqi military said on Sunday.
A statement by the media office of the Joint Operations Command said that the airstrike took place in Iraq's central province of Salahudin when the warplanes bombarded the hideout and destroyed it.
The statement gave no further details about the airstrike, but said that more information to be released later.
However, a source from the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces in Salahudin province told Xinhua that "Iraqi F-16 warplanes bombarded a hideout for the terrorist Daesh (IS group) near Mteibijah area in the eastern part of Salahudin province."
The source confirmed that the airstrike destroyed the hideout and killed all terrorist militants inside.
The rugged area of Mteibijah, some 100 km southeast of Salahudin's provincial capital of Tikrit, has long been a hot bed for the extremist IS militant despite repeated operations by the Iraqi security forces to hunt them down as the militants are using the area as a launching pad to attack civilians and the security forces in the cities in Salahudin and neighboring Diyala provinces.
The security situation in Iraq was dramatically improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants across the country late in 2017.
IS remnants, however, have since melted in urban areas or resorted to deserts and rugged areas as safe havens, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians.
