ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A high-ranking Islamic State (ISIS) leader was arrested by Kurdish security forces in Kirkuk as he tried to escape to the group's main stronghold of Mosul. "On Sunday, an ISIS executioner in the Baghdad Wilayat was arrested by Kirkuk security forces," Brig. Sarhad Qadir, Kirkuk Suburban Police Chief, told Rudaw. The ISIS leader had carried out numerous executions for the group. "The ISIS leader was 25, and he had been involved in killing 25 prominent people in Baghdad," Qadir added. He explained that Baghdad authorities had attempted several times to arrest the ISIS executioner prior to his fleeing Baghdad and coming to Kirkuk on his way to Mosul, but they failed. “After the Iraqi Interior Ministry carried out raids to arrest the ISIS leader, he fled to Kirkuk, and according to information obtained by the Kirkuk Suburban Police, he was arrested," the police chief said. Earlier this week, an ISIS cell of 10 militants, suspected of setting off explosions at oil wells in Kirkuk in April that are still burning, was busted, Qadir also told Rudaw.
