ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sulaimani’s internal security forces (Asayish) on Monday announced they had arrested three “wanted” Islamic States (ISIS) suspects through two separate operations since the start of the month.
The Asayish forces were able to arrest the suspects “after receiving intelligence from the security agencies of the [Iraqi] federal government regarding the presence of three wanted individuals according to Article 4 of the anti-terror law,” read a statement from the forces.
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.
Two of the detainees were arrested in a security operation carried out on August 2, while the other suspect was arrested in an operation on Sunday. The latter has been accused of “taking, transporting, and distributing” the properties and assets of Yazidis from Shingal (Sinjar).
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.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that at least two ISIS operatives were killed and an additional 24 detained in partnered operations with their allies in Iraq during the month of July.
