SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region — Security forces in the Kurdistan region said they arrested eight fugitives in Sulaimani province who were previously convicted as being members of the Islamic State, or ISIS, with several of the detainees known to be key members of the extremist group in Iraq.
Prosecutors say two of the detainees are known to be top members of the ISIS who allegedly carried out a massacre last December in the Alam district of eastern Salahadin province. All the terrorists were earlier found guilty under the Iraqi Anti-Terrorism law No. 02 and 04 articles.
The fugitives were sentenced by both Hilla court in Babil province and Sulaimani criminal court. The convicted ISIS members pleaded guilty and were handed over to Iraqi authorities for further persecution.
According to security officials, one of the criminals identified as Abu Hafsa Ansari holds a PhD in Islamic Studies and previously taught in Tikrit University. Ansari took an active part in massacring of fighters who belonged to the Sahwa militia, also known as The Sons of Iraq, an official said.
The source added that another jihadist who had spent five years in Camp Bucca prison, participated in Camp Speicher massacre in Tikrit in which some 1,566 Iraqi Air Force cadets were killed by ISIS in June 2014.
Authorities also identified an Al-Qaeda member who was detained in Abu Ghraib prison and traveled to the region with a fake ID card in 2013.
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