SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi forces detained 13 members of Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Baghdad governorate, the intelligence agency said on Sunday.
Iraqi Agency of Intelligence and Federal Investigation said its units managed to arrest the militants in several areas in Baghdad in accordance with article 4 of counter-terrorism law.
“They belong to ISIS terrorist gangs according to arrest warrants issued against them by the judiciary for their work within the criminal gangs in the so-called sectors under different surnames and names,” the agency added.
The ISIS members carried out acts in Kirkuk, Nineveh, North Baghdad and Tigris, the intelligence agency stated.
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.
On Friday, the intelligence agency said its units had detained six ISIS members in several areas in Kirkuk province.
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”.
Iraqi commanders have warned that the group has been regrouping in northern Iraq and relying on women to secure logistical support for their operatives in the Hamrin mountain range.
The area is caught between the jurisdictions of the Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga forces.
Kurdish officials have said the militant group is using a security vacuum between the Iraqi and Kurdish forces in disputed areas.
