Iraq arrests 5 fighters in Mosul for joining Islamic State group
Iraqi troops arrest a suspected Islamic State militant
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) – Five Islamic State militants were arrested Saturday in Hawy al-Kanisah area in Mosul’s western side, Iraqi authorities announced.
“The five admitted belonging to the terrorist Islamic State group and carrying out several criminal and terrorist acts against civilians in Mosul,” Alghad Press quoted Maj. Gen. Saad Maan, the interior ministry’s spokesman, as saying in a statement.
“They are originally coming from Qabr al-Abd village, Hammam al-Alil region, but they changed their residence to hide from the police,” the spokesman added.
Earlier in the day, the Iraqi Security Media Center announced the capture of two IS militants in Mosul’s eastern side.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared last December final victory over Islamic State three years after the militant group captured about a third of Iraq’s territory.
Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq, 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.
A total of 79 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 99 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in July 2018, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).