SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi security forces detained a senior Islamic State (ISIS) member in Kirkuk province, Iraq’s intelligence agency said on Monday.
The directorate of Military Intelligence said its units had launched a “careful and continuous follow-up operation” in the Zab area in Kirkuk province.
They managed to arrest an ISIS member who ran fake accounts of the militant group on social media, the military intelligence directorate added.
“The terrorist is one of those who used to reside in Turkey, ran fake ISIS websites on social media and facilitate ISIS housing in Turkey,” the directorate said.
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”.