The Takfiri ISIL terrorist group has taken into custody 20 of its own members in Iraq’s northern province of Kirkuk for fleeing the battlefield in clashes with Iraqi forces.

A local source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said ISIL put the group of fellow terrorists under arrest in the town of Hawijah, located about 282 kilometers (175 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad, on Monday, Arabic-language al-Sumaria satellite television network reported.

The source added that the militants had escaped clashes with Iraqi forces in the strategic northern city of Baiji, about 210 kilometers (130 miles) north of Baghdad. ISIL has reportedly transferred the group to a prison in the area.

Meanwhile, commander of the Federal Police Forces Lieutenant General Raed Shaker Jawdat told Arabic-language al-Forat news agency that security forces backed by Iraqi fighter jets pounded terrorist hideouts in Ramadi, the capital of Arbar Province, killing tens of ISIL terrorists and destroying seven vehicles belonging to the militants in the process.

Commander of Samarra Operations Major General Emad al-Zahiri said eight ISIL terrorists were killed when Iraqi forces targeted a car in Jazirat Samarra District of the northern province of Salahuddin.

According to a statement released by the Iraqi Defense Ministry on Monday, Iraqi aircraft carried out precision strikes against ISIL positions in Nukhayb, Hebbariyah and Rahhaliyah districts east of Rutbah town, about 428 kilometers (265 miles) west of Baghdad, leaving scores of the terrorists dead.

Separately, commander of the artillery battalion in the Federal Police Colonel Fazel al-Ma’mouri said nearly 20 terrorists were killed when Iraqi army forces launched a number of artillery rounds on the outskirts of Baiji.

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been plagued by violence ever since ISIL began its march through the Iraqi territory in June 2014.

Iraqi soldiers, police units, Kurdish forces, and Shia and Sunni volunteers are engaged in battles with the terrorists to drive them out of the areas they have under control.