SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Yahya Rasoul, announced on Monday that they have detained an Islamic State (ISIS) leader in Kirkuk province.
Major General Rasoul in a statement revealed that they have detained an ISIS leader following the conduct of an anti-terror operation.
Disclosing on the suspect’s status, Rasoul said his name is Abu Hamza Matuiti. He used to be the Security Commander of Kirkuk “wilayat”.
“Wilayat” is an Arabic term, back then, when the Islamic State controlled large swathes of territories in 2014, it established an administrative system that divides territories into provinces (Wilayat), taking inspiration from the ancient division of the Islamic caliphates.
Rasoul has also said prior to this, Matuiti used to be a commander of an ISIS battalion in the so-called Nineveh Wilayat in northern Iraq as well.
Rasoul did not further elaborate on where the suspect was precisely located or detained, providing no details about the operation location.
ISIS seized large swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014, declaring a “caliphate” there before Baghdad declared victory in 2017.
The Iraqi forces and Kurdish forces backed by U.S.-led Coalition forces as well as Iran-backed Shia militias defeated the militant group in 2017.
