Terrorist cell, of 15 militants, arrested in Kirkuk: Defense Ministry
Iraqi troops arrest suspected terrorists in Baghdad
In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said, “the intelligence and security departments of Kirkuk, in coordination with joint security forces, managed to arrest a terrorist cell in Kirkuk, composed of 15 members.”
In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014.
Thousands of 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. The group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.
A total of 79 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 99 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in July 2018, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).