In a series of operations, the US-led coalition with the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Directorate (CTD) arrested four ISIS members near Erbil, the Coalition’s Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant announced in a tweet.
“These operations reduce Daesh’s [ISIS] ability to coordinate movements and harass the people of Iraq,” it added, without disclosing further information about the detained members.
Iraqi forces have not yet commented on the arrests.
ISIS seized control of swaths of land in Iraq in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017, but has continued 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, and Diyala. Erbil and Baghdad are in protracted talks to cooperate in these areas.
Coalition forces often carry joint operations with the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga against the terror group. Earlier this month, they conducted an operation in Nineveh that Peshmerga commander Sirwan Barzani described as a “necessary” step to out an end to ISIS actions.
The US will withdraw its combat troops by the end of the year as the coalition formally shifts the focus of its mission to advising and assisting Iraqi forces.
In its most recent report, the Pentagon expressed concern about Iraqi capabilities, saying their security forces made “no significant achievement” in carrying out operations independent of the coalition’s assistance between the months of July and September.
However, Iraqi forces “continue to develop their capabilities and processes,” it added.
