ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Security operations against an ISIS sleeper cell in Halabja province on the border with Iran are complete, Asayish (security) forces announced in a statement on Friday evening.
All the “terrorists” have been killed and no threat remains from the group, the Asayish stated.
The suspected ISIS group attacked a Kurdish security office in the town of Bamo, in Halabja in January. Kurdish forces repelled the attack but the group remained at large.
The same group is believed to have also operated across the border, killing three Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
“We assure everyone that we continue with all our efforts to protect the security of our region and will not let enemies of freedom harm life in Kurdistan,” read the Asayish statement.
Most of the members of the group were Kurds, but there some Arabs among them as well.
“A team from Garmiyan Asayish were investigating the ISIS sleeper cell and were able to arrest the terrorist M. M., a Kurd, and his older brother Dilshad Bawanuriyah, who had helped the terrorists in Garmiyan,” read the statement.
Bamo town, 195 kilometers southeast of Erbil, is just west of the Hamrin mountain range that includes Mount Bamo. Kurdish officials have expressed concern about ISIS militants regrouping in Hamrin as the rugged area provides many possible hideouts.
