Iraqi intelligence forces arrest Islamic State fighter in Mosul
A Shi’ite volunteer wearing a mask, who has joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), looks on during a parade on a street in Kanaan, Diyala province, June 26, 2014.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi military intelligence forces arrested on Saturday a fighter of the Islamic State militant group in Mosul city.
“The terrorist was working for the militant group’s so-called Hisbah (vigilantism) and his arrest came upon accurate intelligence reports,” Almaalomah news website quoted the Military Intelligence Directorate as saying in a press statement.
“He was wanted for trial on terror charges pursuant to article 4 of the anti-terrorism law,” added the statement.
The anti-terrorism law empowers courts to convict people who are believed to have helped jihadists even if they are not accused of carrying out attacks.
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.