ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s counterterrorism forces said on Sunday that they had arrested three suspected Islamic State (ISIS) members in Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani province, hours after the federal forces reported clashes with the group in nearby Kirkuk province. The Iraqi Counterterrorism Service (ICTS) forces said the three ISIS suspects were arrested based on judicial orders. “Two of them had entered the province today, while the third was a resident,” the statement read. The ICTS did not clarify whether Kurdish local forces were involved in the operation. Sulaimani’s security forces had not commented on the arrests as of the time of publication. The arrests come against the backdrop of an armed engagement between the ICTS and gunmen in Pirde (Altun Kupri) town in northeast of Kirkuk province earlier on Sunday. According to the ICTS, two ISIS members wearing explosive vests were killed and a third was arrested. Two ICTS members were injured, while a teenager was also killed. The Kurdistan Region Security Agency said on September 13 that they had arrested two armed ISIS cells, consisting of 22 members, in Sulaimani. Security forces also seized a large quantity of heavy, medium and light weapons, hand grenades, binoculars, and ammunition. ISIS seized large swaths of Iraq in 2014 before being declared territorially defeated in late 2017. The group has since maintained operational capacity through sleeper cells, which have carried out hit-and-run attacks and kidnappings for ransom. Iraqi and Kurdish security forces have taken steps to deepen their cooperation, including forming joint detachments to monitor contact lines in the disputed territories, including Kirkuk and Diyala. Iraqi forces have ramped up airstrikes against ISIS holdouts in Diyala’s Wadi al-Shai, a rugged mountain range. Two ISIS suspects were killed in a September 11 airstrike. The killing of an Iraqi military officer in early July during clashes with ISIS in Kirkuk prompted an intensified campaign targeting the group’s hideouts in the region.
Iraq27-09-2026One civilian, two gunmen killed in Kirkuk province following clashes: Iraqi counterterrorism
