A series of tit-for-tat attacks between Iraqi forces and ISIS have been taking place since Baghdad announced the launch of a military operation earlier this week against the terrorist group. The operation was launched against the Hamrin Mountains region, which encompasses Diyala, Kirkuk and Salaheddine, in wake of ISIS’ abduction and killing of eight security forces in the area. The group retaliated to the operation by kidnapping and murdering on Thursday eight members of the same family in Diyala. The operation will see the army, special forces, Rapid Response units, Popular Mobilization Forces and Kurdish peshmerga fighters hunt down ISIS cells in the center of the country, Iraqs Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement. They will be backed by air strikes from the Iraqi air force and the US-led international coalition that is combating ISIS. Iraq declared victory over ISIS last December after expelling the group from all major towns and cities in a vast offensive. But the Iraqi military has kept up operations targeting the terrorists, mostly in remote desert areas. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has vowed to avenge the eight civilians killed by ISIS. Commenting on the new operation, Diyala politician Ibrahim al-Samaidi told Asharq Al-Awsat that ISIS is currently launching its assaults in remote areas that are hard to secure by the security forces. “The solution lies in partially arming the residents of those regions with light and medium weapons to enable them to deter ISIS attacks,” he explained. Former Diyala MP Salah al-Jabouri revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the security forces are almost completely absent in areas that ISIS is targeting, namely Salaheddine and Diyala. He blamed this situation on the existence of several military and security leaderships that create conflicts of interests. “ISIS often exploits weaknesses, of which there are many, to achieve goals that it deems as significant,” he went on to say. On the current operation, Jabouri said that they are limited to “sweeps of regions” and the security forces are not actually seizing any land. For the operation to be a success, intelligence efforts need to be exerted and overflights should be carried out to uncover ISIS activity, he added.