The Iraqi army announced the liberation of the last important strongholds of ISIS in the north of the country, after a military operation that lasted for several days, in cooperation with the Popular Mobilization Forces and with air support.

The commander of the Salah al-Din Governorate operations of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, Abdul Mohsen Hatem al-Hamdani, said in a statement that "joint Iraqi forces (army, police and others) were able to fully liberate Kanous Island," noting that "the island is the last stronghold of the organization in the region."

He pointed out that the security forces managed to kill a number of ISIS operatives and arrest 4 others, and burn more than 9 sites and 3 stores of equipment and weapons.

On October 19, joint Iraqi forces began a large-scale military operation to retake the island of Kanous from the grip of ISIS, one of its most important strongholds in the northern region of Salah al-Din Governorate, reaching Nineveh Governorate, and then the Western Desert leading to the Syrian border.

A military source said at the time that the operation is taking place under the supervision of senior Iraqi military commanders from the Ministries of Defense and Interior, and aims to permanently eliminate the presence of ISIS elements, and establish permanent attachment points on the island to prevent their infiltration in the future, explaining that this will lead to the stability of the regions north of Salah al-Din and southern Nineveh. .

Over the past years, the Iraqi forces have launched several attacks to clear the area of ​​ISIS, but they are withdrawing from them due to the difficulty in maintaining communication between the control units on the ground and their support due to their location in the Tigris River basin and the spread of dense vegetation in it.

Last year, US fighters dropped 40 tons of laser-guided bombs on the island, which is teeming with Islamic State militants.

In recent months, attacks by suspected ISIS militants have increased, especially in the area between Kirkuk and Salah al-Din (north) and Diyala (east), known as the "Triangle of Death."

In the summer of 2014, ISIS invaded a third of the area of ​​Iraq, before Baghdad launched a counter campaign with the support of the American-led international coalition, during which it gradually regained its lands by the end of 2017.

However, the organization still maintains sleeper cells in large areas in Iraq and launches attacks between different periods.