“The security services carried out a number of preemptive operations during which six suspects were arrested according to various legal articles and a pile of explosive materials (remnants of ISIS terrorist gangs), unlicensed weapons, and ammunition were seized,” state media reported, citing a statement from the Baghdad Operations Command.
It is the latest amid a spike in anti-ISIS operations in the country. On Sunday night, two suspected ISIS members wearing explosive vests were surrounded and killed by security forces in the northern city of Kirkuk.
On Wednesday, Iraqi security forces in the northern Nineveh province announced the arrest of “one of the most dangerous” ISIS leaders who had participated in operations against the Iraqi army.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi territory during a brazen offensive in 2014, sweeping through vast stretches of northern and central Iraq.
But the jihadists’ so-called “caliphate” would come to an end in 2017 as Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, supported by a US-led international coalition, clawed back territory from the group.
Despite its territorial defeat, ISIS has continued to pose security threats in the country through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions in several provinces, particularly in areas disputed between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which stretch across several provinces including Nineveh, Diyala, Salahaddin, and Kirkuk.
In late August, a joint operation by the Iraqi army and US forces in the western Anbar province killed 16 ISIS militants, and the US army on Saturday said that the operation killed four ISIS leaders.
