ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) announced on Sunday the capture of three suspected Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Nineveh and Baghdad as part of the Iraqi government’s ongoing efforts to destroy the extremist group’s networks, as well as the arrest of a drug trafficker in Dhi Qar province.

"Our heroes arrested a terrorist in the capital, Baghdad,” read a statement by the ICTS, adding in a separate raid, and “based on accurate intelligence, two terrorists were arrested in Nineveh province.”

It added that the two apprehended ISIS members had “military positions” in Anbar province’s remote regions.

The ICTS detailed that, in a another raid that their forces managed to “destroy six hideouts, six mud houses, a pickup truck, and a cave containing explosives in Diyala and Salahaddin provinces."

Similar operations are regularly carried out across Iraq, with security forces targeting the group's hideouts and leadership in an ongoing campaign to maintain security and stability.

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.

The ICTS said in the Sunday statement that they had successfully apprehended a “drug trafficker” in Dhi Qar province.

"As part of our fight against the scourge of drugs, and in cooperation with the Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances and the provincial police, the brave men of the Service arrested a drug dealer in Dhi Qar province," the statement said.

Iraq, with its lengthy borders with Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, has evolved from a transit route in the international drug trade to a significant drug consumption market.

Iraqi authorities in late March said they had inflicted “heavy losses” on drug traffickers in the country in 2025, arresting over 1,500 local and foreign suspects since the start of the year.