Iraqi security say 26 arrested in Mosul for suspected IS links
Iraqi security forces transport displaced civilians with an armoured fighting vehicle out of West Mosul during fighting with Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq June 24, 2017. REUTERS/Marius Bosch
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi security forces have arrested 26 people in the city of Mosul over their suspected affiliation with the Islamic State, the command said ina statement.
The suspects were arrested as part of operations to apprehend IS cells in western Mosul, said the Nineveh Operations Command on Tuesday.
Since Iraqi forces declared the recapture of Mosul from IS extremists last July, troops went on searches for remnant cells, while militats staged occasional attacks on civilians and security personnel.
Mosul was the birthplace of Islamic State in Iraq. The group’s top, now at large, commander, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, proclaimed an Islamic “caliphate” in Iraq and neighboring Syria from the city’s grand mosque.
Though the Iraqi government proclaimed victory over the militant group in December, it says the security threat the group poses still exists.