On Thursday, the Iraqi authorities announced the arrest of 9 members of the terrorist organization “ISIS” in the capital Baghdad and the provinces of Anbar (west) and Kirkuk (north).

This came according to a statement by the spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Major General Yahya Rasoul, of which The Eastern Herald received a copy.

Rasool said that “the anti-terrorist apparatus (the army’s elite) arrested 9 ISIS terrorists in three provinces.”

He explained that “the forces of the Counter-Terrorism Service arrested 4 ISIS elements in separate areas of Baghdad province, and 3 others in Fallujah district, Anbar province.”

The Iraqi spokesman added: “The apparatus arrested two other members of the organization in Kirkuk province, in coordination with the Asayish (internal security) forces in the Kurdistan Region in the north of the country.”

And on Wednesday, the Iraqi authorities announced the arrest of 5 ISIS members in Kirkuk and Anbar provinces.

In recent months, the frequency of attacks by suspected ISIS militants has increased, especially in the area between Kirkuk and Salah al-Din (north) and Diyala (east), known as the “triangle of death”.

In parallel, Iraq launches military combing operations from time to time to pursue the remnants of the organization.

In 2017, Iraq declared victory over ISIS by restoring its entire territory, which was estimated to be about a third of the country’s area, which was overrun by the organization in the summer of 2014. However, the terrorist organization still maintains sleeper cells in large areas of Iraq and launches attacks between varying periods.​​​

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