Six prominent Syrian, Egyptian Islamic State members arrested, northwest of Mosul
Iraqi security forces arrest a suspected fighter with the Islamic State group during a military operation.
“Three female Egyptian and Syrian Islamic State members were arrested as they were trying to escape through the borders with Syria,” Salam al-Okaidi, officer from the police command, told the semi-official Al-Sabah newspaper.
The arrests, according to Okaidi, “were carried out by the joint troops, which were highly deployed along the borders, west of Nineveh, after information showed they were going to escape toward the border crossing, northwest of Mosul.”
The female militants “are prominent ones at the so-called Hisbah (vigilantism). They had death sentences issued against them over killing girls in Mosul, while the group was in control of the city.”
Meanwhile, Cap. Ahmed al-Obeidi, spokesperson for Nineveh police command, “information by the intelligence department helped security troops to arrest two prominent Islamic State members including Anan al-Hafez, Syrian expert in wireless devices and internet networks, and another militant Ali al-Geheish. They were hiding together in al-Ayadhiya region in Tal Afar town, northwest of Mosul.”
Thousands of suspects were arrested over links with Islamic State, since the city was recaptured from the group in July 2017.
In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014. However, the group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.