SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Sulaimani security forces (Asayish) on Tuesday announced that they had arrested eight suspects on terrorism charges in Chamchamal district.
“The suspects are charged with article 2 of terrorism laws,” read a statement from Sulaimani Asayish, adding that they had joined the al-Qaeda terror group back in 2004.
“After investigation, it was found the arrested had been involved in dozens of criminal acts, and they had all later pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS),” the statement added.
According to the suspects’ “confession” that Asayish obtained, they had role in killing Iraqi security forces and civilians after they become ISIS members.
All of the “outlawed” suspects were arrested in separate Asayish operations in Chamchamal’s Takeia sub-district where they used to hide from being noticed as they had been wanted by Iraqi courts.
In the meantime, Asyaish stated that they all had been handed to the judiciary for further investigations.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014. While the group has been declared territorially defeated in 2017, it still poses a serious security threat to the country which is capable of carrying out hit-and-run attacks and abductions.
They are mostly active in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.
Last week, the General Directorate of Iraqi security and intelligence announced the arrest of six other suspects in Sulaimani on terrorism charges.
