Acting governor of Kirkuk said Islamic State (IS) group sleeper cells are still active in some parts of the province, but emphasized that “generally, the security situation is not bad.”
Rakan Saeed al-Jiburi made the comments in an interview with KirkukNow about the security dossier of the province following the latest Iraqi military operations in the area.
“Security is not bad; however IS sleeper cells are active in southwestern Kirkuk”, he said.
The group is still posing threat despite that more than two years have passed since it was ousted from Hawija and other areas in southwestern Kirkuk.
Al-Jiburi indicated that security forces have stepped up their efforts to weed out IS sleeper cells which are represented by “small armed groups which launch sporadic attacks targeting civilians and security personnel.”
He added that the Kirkuk administration has submitted a request to the general commander of the armed forces to continue the military operations until the area is completely cleared of IS sleeper cells.
Earlier this month, Iraqi armed forces launched the sixth phase of Operation Will of Victory which was partly aimed to root out remnants of IS in southwestern Kirkuk.
