Security forces arrest ISIS ‘Emir of Baghdad’

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq’s National Security Service (INSS) announced on Monday the arrest of the "Emir of Baghdad", considered one of the most prominent leaders of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the capital. 

The INSS published a video of the arrest and alleged confession of the accused, who joined a terrorist group known as "Ansar al-Sunna" in 2008, before joining ISIS in 2011.

The suspect had held several positions within the terror group, he claimed, the most important of which was the so-called Emir of Baghdad. He also served as the Emir of several other areas, including Raqqa – the terror group’s Syrian capital – and confessed that he was planning to carry out several attacks in Baghdad.

One of his main tasks was to recruit new members for the extremist group, he added. 

ISIS suspects are often arrested across Iraq and Syria. 

Although territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017, ISIS continues to launch attacks against security forces and civilians, sheltering in the security vacuum between Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

Two joint brigades of Iraqi and Peshmerga forces will be formed soon as part of efforts to counter ISIS remnants in the disputed territories, the Peshmerga ministry confirmed in a statement. It comes in response to escalating ISIS activity Kirkuk, Diyala, Khanaqin, Salahaddin, Anbar and western Mosul.

Joint Coordination Centers have recently been established in several areas to counter the ongoing ISIS threat.