Three Islamic State militants apprehended in Diyala
Iraqi security forces arrest a suspected member of the Islamic State group in Iraq. File photo
Diyala (IraqiNews.com) – Three Islamic State (IS) militants were arrested Tuesday during a military operation in northeastern Diyala.
“A force from the 110th brigade of al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces), in cooperation with military intelligence agents in Diyala, carried out a military operation to pursue Islamic State cells in the regions of al-Tabj and Bardan,” Almaalomah news website quoted al-Hashd al-Shaabi as saying in a military statement.
“The operation resulted in the arrest of three Islamic State terrorists and detonation of two explosive charges,” the statement read.
Popular Mobilization Forces, an alliance of volunteer Shia paramilitary forces, have actively backed the Iraqi government’s military campaign against IS since 2014, when they were formed upon a top Shia clergy edict to counter the Sunni Jihadist group.
PMF won official recognition as a national force late 2016, becoming under the command of the prime minister, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces.
In December 2017, former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared final victory over the terrorist Islamic State group three years after the militant group captured about a third of Iraq’s territory.