SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Four members of Islamic State (ISIS) militants were detained in Hawija west of Kirkuk, Iraqi intelligence agency said on Thursday.
The militants who were wanted in accordance with Article 4 of counter-terrorism law were detained in separate areas in Hawija district, Iraq’s Agency of Intelligence and Federal Investigation said in a statement.
“They worked within the so-called Hawija sector of ISIS,” the agency stated. “The terrorists participated in several terrorist operations against security forces and citizens.”
Recently, Iraqi forces have stepped up efforts to detain ISIS militants in the provinces of Kirkuk, Saladin, Nineveh, Anbar and Baghdad. The security forces have detained and killed dozens of ISIS members in the past weeks.
Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December 2017 but the militants have regrouped in the Hamrin mountain range which extends into the northern provinces – an area described by officials as a “triangle of death”.
