ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Local security forces in Sulaimani on Tuesday announced the arrest of two “wanted terrorists" of the Islamic State (ISIS) in an intelligence operation near Kirkuk.
“Last night, December 2, 2024, two terrorists that had been wanted by the Iraqi National Security Service, were arrested in an operation, based on intelligence information in the Bani Maqan area,” read a statement by the Operations Directorate of the Sulaimani Asayesh (security).
The statement added the two “terrorists” had been wanted based on Article 4 of the Iraqi penal code.
“The arrested were previously militants of Daesh [ISIS]. They had taken part in a number of terrorist actions,” the statement added. “They had hidden themselves in the plateaus of Bani Maqan in Chamchamal.”
Local security forces of Sulaimani have carried out several joint operations with Iraqi armed forces against remnants of ISIS, especially in Kirkuk province in the past.
Despite being territorially defeated in 2017, ISIS militants continue to pose a security threat in Iraq through hit-and-run operations and attacks on remote areas. Iraqi forces have intensified their efforts to eliminate these remnants, especially in provinces like Kirkuk, Anbar, and Nineveh, where ISIS cells remain active.
Similar operations have been carried out across Iraq, as the military targets the group's hideouts and leadership in an ongoing campaign to maintain security and stability.
Over a week ago, Iraqi security forces announced the killing of at least five suspected members of ISIS in airstrikes on alleged hideouts of the group in western Kirkuk.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, has repeatedly reiterated support for the security forces in their pursuit of ISIS remnants, stressing that “there is no place for terrorists in Iraq” and that armed forces would continue their operations until the country is “cleansed” from ISIS.
Today’s operation by the Sulaimani security comes as Iraq geared up to secure its borders with Syria by deploying troops in the wake of heightened tensions in the neighboring country, amid concerns of the conflict spilling into Iraq.
Syrian opposition armed groups, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched a surprise offensive against the Syrian army in Aleppo and Idlib countryside on Wednesday, triggering one of the bloodiest escalations in the Syrian civil war in years.
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