ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces arrested nine suspected members of the Islamic State (ISIS) across four provinces, the army said on Friday, amid a countrywide spike in anti-ISIS operations and as Baghdad and Washington agree to remove US-led coalition troops. The Iraqi army carried out “several preemptive operations that resulted in the arrest of nine terrorists wanted by the Iraqi judiciary according to Article Four in various areas of the Baghdad, Nineveh, Anbar, and Kirkuk provinces,” state media said, citing a Security Media Cell statement. Article Four of the Counter-Terrorism Law of 2005 says that anyone found guilty of committing a terror offense is given a death sentence, with life imprisonment given to those who assist or hide those convicted of terrorism. ISIS seized control of large swathes of Iraqi territory in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces. The militants have taken shelter in a security vacuum in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, stretching across several provinces including Kirkuk, Salahaddin, Nineveh, and Diyala. Iraqi security forces have intensified their operations against ISIS cells in recent months, particularly in the disputed areas. On Friday, the US and Iraq announced that they had struck a deal to end the military mission of the anti-ISIS global coalition within a year. American troops will continue to maintain a military presence in Iraq until 2016 to support the coalition mission in Syria, which will end in two years.
