Iraqi security forces arrest eight Islamic State militants in Mosul
Representational photo.
Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) – Eight Islamic State members were arrested Saturday in different security campaigns in Mosul city, a spokesperson for the Iraqi Interior Ministry said.
Speaking to the Arabic-language Shafaq News website, Maj. Gen. Saad Maan said that security forces, in cooperation with citizens, managed to apprehend eight militants who fought among Islamic State’s ranks during its capture of Mosul in 2014-2017.
“The militants were arrested in the eastern side of Mosul,” the spokesman said, adding that all legal measures were taken against them.
Former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi announced in July 2017 liberation of the second largest Iraqi city of Mosul from IS militants, who had captured it in 2014. More than 25,000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016.
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.