Highly sought ISIS members arrested in Kirkuk

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two Islamic State (ISIS) members who were in charge of managing the militant group’s funds were arrested in southern Kirkuk, the Iraqi Security Media Cell announced on Tuesday.

The members were overseeing the terror group’s funds “which come from remittances from inside and outside Iraq,” the media cell said in a tweet.

The two ISIS militants also used social media platforms to call on people to enter and embrace the violent group, it added, noting that they had “lectures” that taught others “how to manufacture explosive materials and devices.”

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.

The terror group has recently increased attacks on Iraqi and Kurdish forces. It killed 356 people in 229 attacks conducted in disputed territories in the first 11 months of last year, a Peshmerga official told Rudaw last week.

Baghdad and Erbil are in protracted talks to form two joint brigades in these areas, with the forces often carrying operations and arresting members of the terror group.

Three ISIS affiliates were detained near Erbil on Sunday with another five militants arrested in Kirkuk on December 23.