The operation targeted sites and tunnels dug by ISIL militants in the town of al-Aghar, south of Mosul, Nineveh police chief Hamad Namis al-Jabbouri told Anadolu Agency. 

“Ten militants were killed in the operation that was supported by Iraqi Air Force,” he said. 

Mosul is the provincial capital of the Nineveh province in northern Iraq. 

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that ISIL's military presence in Iraq had been all but dismantled over operations backed by the U.S.-led International Alliance. However, from time to time, Iraqi officials announce operations against ISIL-affiliated "sleeper cells" in certain parts of the country.