Iraqi special security forces have carried out an operation in the country’s troubled northern province of Salahuddin, and managed to kill four intelligence agents of the Takfiri ISIL militant group.

A security source, requesting not to be named, told Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network on Friday that the ISIL extremists were killed as Iraqi troopers conducted a raid in al-Fatha region of the province, situated approximately 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad.

The source added that Iraqi security personnel later returned to their bases, and there were no reports of casualties or fatalities among them.

Meanwhile, Iraqi soldiers, backed by allied Popular Mobilization units and tribal fighters, have killed more than two dozen ISIL terrorists during a series of clean-up operations across the Arab country.

A total of 17 ISIL militants were killed and two others injured after Iraqi troopers launched operations in al-Karmah town, located 48 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, and adjacent areas. Fourteen terrorist hideouts were also demolished in the process.

Meanwhile, Commander of Anbar Operations Major General Qassim al-Muhammadi announced on Friday that Iraqi security forces have managed to kill 15 ISIL extremists during an operation east of the provincial capital of Ramadi, located about 110 kilometers (68 miles) west of Baghdad.

Two vehicles belonging to the terrorists were also destroyed and 120 rounds of mortar shells were confiscated afterwards.

In another Friday development, ISIL extremists executed a Muslim preacher, identified as Sheikh Yasser Younis, by the firing squad and in front of a large number of onlookers in Mosul. The cleric had been kidnapped from his home in the center of the city two days earlier.

The ISIL started its campaign of terror in Iraq in early June 2014. The heavily-armed militants took control of Mosul before sweeping through parts of the country’s Sunni Arab heartland.

The terrorists have been carrying out horrific acts of violence, including public decapitations, against all Iraqi communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians.

MP/NN/HRB