Fourteen Islamic State members arrested in security operation, south of Mosul

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Fourteen members of Islamic State cells were arrested as a wide-scale security operation was carried out, south of Mosul, spokesperson for Nineveh Police Command said on Saturday.

Speaking to BasNews, Lt. Gen. Emad Hanash said, “security troops confiscated three tunnels for Islamic State in villages of Mahana and al-Haj Ali.”

Troops found there “lists with names of those executed by the militants, along with wireless devices, mobile phones and weapons,” he added.

“Security forces arrested fourteen members of Islamic State dormant cells in Qayyarah, south of Mosul, possessing weapons,” he said.

Last week, twenty-three Islamic State members, including leaders, were arrested, northwest of Mosul, as security forces carried out an operation in Badush village to follow the militants.

Thousands of Islamic State militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016.

In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014. However, the group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.