“Acting on a warrant, on Aug. 20, elite Kurdish Counter-Terrorism Director troops captured ISIS sleeper cell terrorists in Erbil,” tweeted Coalition spokesperson Col. Myles B. Caggins.
One “ISIS terrorist” was captured in the raid, Caggins explained to Rudaw TV on Friday night. “And this terrorist wasn't a normal ISIS terrorist… This man was responsible for coordinating the movement of ISIS terrorists, money and weapons through the Kurdistan Region."
"I do not want to get into too many details because we are still using the intelligence to develop additional raids. But this terrorist was caught around the city of Erbil and it shows you that some ISIS will try to hide in an urban area to plan and facilitate terrorism because they think they are safe,” said Caggins.
The Coalition’s special operations worked with the Kurdish forces in the raid.
"The sleeper cell that was caught in Erbil was talking to other ISIS managers – ISIS mid-level leaders – and arranging for fighters to move through Kurdistan into other regions in Iraq and Syria. This involves moving money, talking to safe houses and giving those fighters instructions,” Caggins detailed.
He called the operation a “great success,” but said the name of the man arrested would not be released as that is sensitive information.
Kurdish forces have not immediately commented on the operation.
This is the second such operation reported within the Kurdistan Region this month. Sulaimani province's security forces (Asayesh) arrested six ISIS suspects in two raids in and around the town of Chamchammal on August 4 and 5.
ISIS emerged in Iraq in 2014 and controlled a large swathe of land in Iraq and Syria. Although it was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017, it has carried out insurgency tactics, including the ambush of security forces, kidnap and execution of suspected informants, and extortion of money from vulnerable rural populations.
Iraqi counter-terror forces (ICTS) also busted an ISIS sleeper cell in northern Saladin province, arresting eight people "who were planning to attack military units stationed in Sharqat district," the force tweeted.
Two other ISIS suspects were detained by ICTS forces south of Mosul. "This brings the number of the arrested terrorists to ten in the last 24 hours,” read the tweet.
Updated at 12.28pm, August 22
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