IS militants, dressed up in military uniforms, abduct two Iraqi brothers

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) – Islamic State militants kidnapped on Monday two Iraqi brothers in the northwestern province of Nineveh, a security source said as the kidnapping cases continue to rise in the country despite the defeat of the terrorist group in 2017.

“The IS militants were dressed up in military uniforms when they kidnapped the pair in al-Ba’aj district in Nineveh,” the source told Baghdad Today news website without giving further details.

The security situation in Iraq has been improved after Iraqi security forces fully defeated the extremist IS militants late in 2017. However, some security reports warn that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country.

Violence in the country has surged with the emergence of Islamic State extremist militants who proclaimed an “Islamic Caliphate” in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

The surge in violence between armed groups and government forces has resulted in over five million internally displaced persons across Iraq and left more than 11 million in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Islamic State once controlled 88,000 sq km of territory stretching from western Syria to eastern Iraq, imposing its brutal rule on almost eight million people. The militant group secured billions of dollars in revenue from oil, extortion, robbery and kidnapping.