“After gaining concise intelligence on nine ISIS members, who resided in the cities of the Kurdistan Region to hide, after obtaining the approval from an investigative judge, all of them [ISIS members] were arrested as a result of two successful operations,” read a statement from Asayish.
The suspects had allegedly participated in several “terrorist” activities and were wanted individuals based on Article 4 of the Iraqi anti-terrorism law, the security forces added. All nine individuals have been handed to the judiciary.
Article 4 of the 2005 Iraqi anti-terrorism law stipulates that anyone who participates in committing a “terrorist act,” as defined by the law, shall be given the death sentence, with life imprisonment sentences being handed out to those found guilty of intentionally concealing a “terrorist act” or harboring a perpetrator of the act.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.
Thousands of people have been detained across Iraq since 2014 for suspected links to terrorist groups, including ISIS, while hundreds have been executed.
