ISIS suspect arrested in Erbil by Kurdish counter-terror forces

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish forces arrested a member of the Islamic State (ISIS) earlier this month in Erbil and handed him over to Baghdad, the Kurdistan Region’s counter-terrorism directorate said on Friday, denying reports he had been captured by Iraqi intelligence.

Several Iraqi media outlets reported Thursday that Iraqi intelligence had followed a suspected member of ISIS from Fallujah to Hit in Anbar, and on to Nineveh, before arresting him in Erbil. 

The suspect was the “head of snipers” in the terror group, an “authorized source” told al-Sumaria news agency.

Erbil’s counter-terror directorate confirmed the arrest on Friday but said it was made by its own forces, not Iraqi intelligence. 

“Our directorate conducted an operation in Erbil city on February 9, 2021, and arrested a member of Daesh [ISIS] terrorist organization, Bashar Mustafa Hafez Adwan al-Awaisi. He has carried out several terrorist activities inside Baghdad city,” read a statement from the Kurdistan Region Security Council’s General Directorate of Counter Terrorism.

“Because this terrorist had carried out terrorist activities inside Baghdad province and he was officially requested by Baghdad security forces to be handed over, we handed the terrorist over to Baghdad forces on February 24, 2021 as per the judge’s order,” added the statement.  

There has been no official statement from Iraqi security forces regarding the arrest. 

ISIS took control of swathes of Iraq and Syria in summer 2014. It was announced territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017. However, the terror group ISIS remains active across the country, especially in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad. 

Kurdistan Region’s Vice President Sheikh Jaafar Sheikh Mustafa recently told Rudaw  that ISIS remains “very strong” across Iraq, and could retake  territory if not for fear of the US-led coalition, which works with Kurdish and Iraqi forces to defeat the terror group.

ISIS claimed on Thursday in its weekly propaganda newspaper al-Naba that it had killed and injured 40 people in 30 attacks in Iraq in a week.