Iraqi security: 3 Islamic State militants apprehended in Nineveh

Nineveh (Iraqinews.com) – Three Islamic State (IS) militants were arrested Monday in a security operation in the terrorist group’s last stronghold of Mosul, a police spokesman was quoted as saying.

Speaking to Baghdad Today, spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Saad Maan said, “Nineveh police apprehended three Islamic state militants, who were wanted on terror charges at el-Samah district in Mosul’s eastern side.”

“The arrest was made pursuant to article no. ¼ of the anti-terror law,” Maan noted.

Earlier in the day, a parliamentary candidate was killed after unidentified gunmen stormed his house at al-Lazaka village in southern Mosul, then they fled the scene.

Farouq Mohamed Zarzour was set to contest parliamentary elections in Nineveh province on the list of the National Coalition.

Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence earlier in November with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.

IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by the US-led international coalition, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.