Iraqi troops arrest eight wanted militants from Islamic State in Mosul
Iraqi troops arrest a suspected Islamic State militant
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi security forces have arrested eight Islamic State militants, who were wanted on terror charges, in Mosul city, the Iraqi Interior Ministry announced.
“Emergency troops of the Nineveh Police Command have arrested eight IS militants in different parts in Mosul’s eastern side,” spokesman for the Interior Ministry Maj. Gen. Saad Maan told Ayn Al Iraq News Sunday.
According to Maan, the arrestees were wanted on terror charges pursuant to article 1/4 of the anti-terrorism law.
Maan added that the terrorists were “apprehended in Aden, Intisar, Methaq, Sumer and Morour districts in the eastern side of Mosul.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced last July the liberation of the second largest Iraqi city of Mosul from IS militants, who had captured it in 2014. More than 25,000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016.
IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, 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.
Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December with the help of a US-led alliance, having retaken all the territory captured by the extremists in 2014 and 2015.
Despite the group’s defeat, isolated cells believed to be linked to Islamic State remain active in some parts of the country. In recent weeks, suspected Islamic State insurgents have carried out several attacks targeting security forces in several areas in Mosul.