BAGHDAD, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces on Sunday launched a major offensive to hunt down Islamic State (IS) militants in a mountainous area in the northern part of Iraq's Salahudin province, the Iraqi military said.
Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi aircraft, began an offensive in the morning to track down IS militants in the mountain ranges of Makhoul and Khanogah, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.
The first day of the several-day operation resulted in the seizure of 14 roadside bombs, rocket launchers, and 10 mortar rounds as well as finding two tunnels used by IS militants in the mountains, the JOC statement said.
The Iraqi and international aircraft conducted a series of airstrikes on IS positions in Makhoul and the nearby Khanogah mountain ranges in the northern part of Salahudin province, Yahia Rasoul, spokesman of the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi forces said in a separate statement.
For his part, the JOC spokesman Tahsin al-Khafaji told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the Iraqi forces "pursued a new tactic through setting up towers and thermal cameras for surveillance to prevent the extremist militants from returning to the areas."
The mountains and vast rural areas in Salahudin province have witnessed intense activities for the extremist IS militants during the past months, despite repeated military operations to hunt them down.
The security situation in Iraq has been improving since Iraqi security forces fully defeated the IS militants across the country late in 2017.
However, IS remnants have since melted in urban areas or deserts and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Enditem
