Iraq
Members of the Iraqi counter-terrorism service (CTS) in Baghdad on December 16, 2021. Photo: Iraqi CTS/Facebook
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s counter-terrorism service (CTS) has conducted over 150 operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) since the start of the year, said the spokesperson for the CTS on Sunday, stressing that “preemptive operations” continues in areas suspected of sheltering remnants of the militant group.
“The service has conducted over 154 operations outside the cities,” Sabah al-Numan spokesperson for the Iraqi CTS told state media on Sunday, adding that “all city centers and suburbs are safe from ISIS terrorism.”
On the fifth anniversary of the liberation of Mosul, Numan lauded the “prominent” role of the CTS in the operations that led to regaining the city from ISIS rule, stating that all the areas that have been liberated now enjoy security and stability, and that operations will continue to target areas where the militants are believed to be hiding.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in 2014, including Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the capital of Nineveh province, where the group declared its so-called caliphate. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.
In its propaganda magazine on Thursday, ISIS claimed to have conducted 13 attacks in Iraq from June 30 to July 6, killing and injuring 28 people.
The Iraqi CTS and the Kurdistan Region's counter-terrorism units have cooperated on more than 10 operations since the start of 2022, resulting in the arrest of at least 21 “high-profile” terrorists, Numan told Rudaw’s Rozhan Abubakir in June.
“The service has conducted over 154 operations outside the cities,” Sabah al-Numan spokesperson for the Iraqi CTS told state media on Sunday, adding that “all city centers and suburbs are safe from ISIS terrorism.”
On the fifth anniversary of the liberation of Mosul, Numan lauded the “prominent” role of the CTS in the operations that led to regaining the city from ISIS rule, stating that all the areas that have been liberated now enjoy security and stability, and that operations will continue to target areas where the militants are believed to be hiding.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in 2014, including Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the capital of Nineveh province, where the group declared its so-called caliphate. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.
In its propaganda magazine on Thursday, ISIS claimed to have conducted 13 attacks in Iraq from June 30 to July 6, killing and injuring 28 people.
The Iraqi CTS and the Kurdistan Region's counter-terrorism units have cooperated on more than 10 operations since the start of 2022, resulting in the arrest of at least 21 “high-profile” terrorists, Numan told Rudaw’s Rozhan Abubakir in June.
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