Iraqi troops arrest Islamic State fighter in Kirkuk

Kirkuk (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi security forces arrested on Saturday a fighter belonging to the terrorist Islamic State group in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, a state-run security media body was quoted as saying.

“The terrorist was fighting for Islamic State’s so-called Al-Qadisiya army,” Baghdad Today News Agency quoted the Security Media Center as saying in a statement, adding that the arrest was made in the “June First” neighborhood in southern Kirkuk.

According to the statement, the militant “was referred to the Iraqi judiciary for legal action.”

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.

Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country.