Baghdad, IRAQ – As many as 36 Islamic State (ISIS) militants were killed on Sunday after US-led coalition Iraqi warplanes targeted their terrorist hotbed located in Syria, a spokesman for the Iraqi Security Media Council was quoted as saying.

Alghdad Press quoted Brig. Gen. Yehia Rasool as saying in a statement that Iraqi Air Forces launched a series of airstrikes on Syrian territories using F-16 jets to eliminate Islamic State terrorists, who were planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Iraq.

According to the statement, the air raids left 36 IS militants dead, including six senior leaders who were gathering at one of their hotbeds inside Syria, Iraqi News reports.

On Thursday, the media office of Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said Iraqi F-16 jets carried out deadly airstrikes against Islamic State locations in Syria from the Iraqi borders side.

Dozens were killed in the attack.

This came after Abadi said on Wednesday that security troops will follow ISIS militants in the whole region, not only in Iraq.

The strikes, according to the statement, were carried out “depending on orders from Haidar al-Abadi, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.”

The statement also added that the strikes “would help expedite the elimination of the ISIS in the region after it was conquered in Iraq.”

The Islamic State group appeared on the international scene in 2014 when it seized large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, declaring the establishment of an Islamic “caliphate” from Mosul city.

Later on, the group has become notorious for its brutality, including mass killings, abductions and beheadings, prompting the U.S. to lead an international coalition to destroy it.

Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq last December, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country.