Iraqi security forces arrest 3 terrorists in Baghdad, Anbar
Iraqi counter terrorism forces. Photo: Kurd Press
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Directorate of General Military Intelligence (DGMI) announced on Wednesday the arrest of three terrorists belonging to the ISIS group in western and central Iraq.
The DGMI said in a statement that the three terrorists were arrested in security operations carried out in the governorates of Anbar and Baghdad, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
UN experts said in a report issued last August that the ISIS group still commands between 5,000 and 7,000 members across its former strongholds in Syria and Iraq, according to the AP.
The report mentioned that during the first half of 2023, the threat posed by ISIS remained mostly high in conflict zones and low in non-conflict areas.
The report that is directed to the UN Security Council said that the overall situation is dynamic, and despite significant losses in the group’s leadership and reduced activity in Syria and Iraq, the risk of its resurgence remains.
In December 2017, after about four years of confrontation with the terrorist group ISIS, Iraq announced the liberation of its entire territory from the terrorist group after it controlled about a third of the country’s territory.
Following the elimination of ISIS, Iraqi security is struggling to eliminate its remnants in the governorates of Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, Salah Al-Din, Anbar, and the outskirts of Baghdad.
ISIS occupied large areas of Iraq and Syria, but the Iraqi authorities have affirmed more than once their commitment to eliminating terrorist groups in the country.