Islamic State drone hunted down, 9 suspects arrested in Anbar

Anbar (IraqiNews.com) A drone belonging to Islamic State militants was brought down in Anbar’s town of Ramadi while nine people suspected of affiliation with the group were detained on Sunday, security commanders in the province said.

Ismail al-Mahalawi, commander of the Interior Ministry’s Anbar Operations, said a “preemptive security operation in Soufiya, Ramadi, resulted in the arrest of nine suspects and the bringing down of an IS-flown drone at the center of the town.

Islamic State militants are still holding some hideouts in western Anbar, launching occasional attacks on security from there.

However, Qassem al-Mohammadi, who leads the army’s al-Jazeera Operations division in the province, said Sunday the volume of attacks by the group has receded recently due to regular airstrikes by Iraqi and US-led fighter jets. He said that preparations continue by security forces to storm IS-held regions at the west of the province.

Iraqi government forces, backed by international air forces, popular militias and Kurdish fighters, have been carrying out a major campaign since October 2016 to clear Iraq’s city of Mosul from IS extremists.

Mohammadi said IS defeats in Mosul leave a positive effect on the situation in Anbar by weakening the intensity of the group’s attacks.