Iraqi rapid response forces arrest four Islamic State militants in Baghdad

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi rapid response forces announced on Wednesday the capture of four Islamic State terrorists in Baghdad.

The arrests were made in al Tarmiyah district in Baghdad as part of a military operation, which was launched earlier this week to cleanse Iraq’s northern provinces from Islamic State terrorists.

The four IS terrorists were arrested in line with article no. 4 of the anti-terrorism law.

The second phase of the “Will of Victory” operation was launched on Sunday with an aim to attain security and stability in the desert area between Nineveh, Salahuddin and Anbar provinces on the Iraqi-Syrian border, in addition to preventing IS remains from sneaking into that region or even using it as a stronghold for their terrorist acts.

Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in November 2017 with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.

IS declared a self-styled “caliphate” in a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014. A government campaign, backed by a U.S.-led international coalition and paramilitary forces, was launched in 2016 to retake IS-held regions, managing to retake all havens, most notably the city of Mosul, the group’s previously proclaimed capital.