Baghdad court sentences seven Islamic State members to life
Baghdad’s central criminal court.
In a statement on Thursday, Abdul-Sattar al-Bayraqdar, a spokesperson of the High Judicial Council, said “the Central Criminal Court issued life sentences for seven convicts who admitted to their affiliation to the so-called Islamic Police.”
The convicts, according to the statement, “confessed offering the logistic support and assisting the militant group in its crimes as well as attacking security and military personnel.”
“The confessions showed that the militants were trained before joining the Islamic Police,” it added.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the militant group, previously in December, however, observers warn that the group still poses a security threat with sleeper cells.
Many IS members were detained during liberation battles that freed cities, which were recaptured by the militant group in 2014. Thousands of militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.
A total of 76 people were killed and 129 others were injured due to acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflicts during the month of June, casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).