Islamic State senior leader arrested in operation, north of Mosul
Representational photo
In a statement on Saturday, the department said security troops managed to arrest one of IS prominent leaders, who used to be the police chief of the so-called Nineveh State. He was in charge of collecting the revenues of the militants. He was also famous for planting bombs.
The leader, according to the statement, has been hiding in Badush mountains since the liberations of Mosul. Troops then managed to arrest him at al-Shaiqara village, north of Mosul.
Thousands of IS militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016 to fight the militant group, which declared a self-styled “caliphate” from Mosul in June 2014.
Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced, in December, full liberation of Iraqi lands, declaring end of war against IS members.
As many as 3,298 civilians were killed and 4,781 others were wounded in 2017, excluding Anbar civilian casualty figures for November and December, which are not available, UNAMI said in a report in December.