The six men were arrested in two raids by Sulaimani's Asayesh Operation Forces in and around the town of Chamchammal on August 4 and 5, according to a Kurdistan Region Security Agency statement published by PUKMedia.
The arrests were made "based on information and continued precise monitoring of the Kurdistan Region Asayesh, and the Sulaimani Asayesh Operation Forces, associated with the Kurdistan Region Security Agency," the statement said.
The suspected ISIS fighters were from the south of Iraq, the statement said, and had settled in the Chamchammal area, about 65 kilometers west of Sulaimani, using forged documents and working as gardeners.
"According to the obtained information, the apprehended terrorists had fled from southern Iraq and intended to build a hideout in Chamchamal to establish a route to get connected with a number of Daesh sleeper cells to reorganize themselves and carry out their activities. But their plots were foiled before they managed to do it," the statement added.
ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017. Its remnants have since relied on insurgency tactics, including the ambush of security forces, kidnap and execution of suspected informants, and extortion of money from vulnerable rural populations.
Though its activities have centered on territories disputed by the governments of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, Kurdish security forces have apprehended militants in raids in areas under KRG control since that territorial defeat.
But some anti-ISIS operations by Kurdish security forces have not been publicly announced, according to Saturday's statement.
"The Kurdistan Region Security Agency has previously apprehended many other terrorists in Sulaimani, the Garmiyan administration region and other towns and cities of the Region in which we have kept the information secret for the sake of the safety, continued investigations and the security of the people," it added.
.webp&w=3840&q=75)
.jpeg&w=3840&q=75)