ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A court in Garmiyan handed down prison sentences to four convicted Islamic State (ISIS) members a day after Sulaimani security announced they had foiled an ISIS terror plot in the province. The four convicted ISIS members from Kirkuk, Kifri, Tuz Khurmatu, and Kalar had been arrested in raids carried out in mid-2018. They all confessed to membership in the extremist group and each was sentenced to five years and one month in jail, the Garmiyan Asayesh (Kurdish security) announced on Wednesday. They will serve their time behind bars in a jail in Sulaimani. Rights groups have criticized Iraq for its prosecution of ISIS suspects. Human Rights Watch has reported judicial authorities are rushing trials and using coerced confessions. The so-called ISIS caliphate was declared defeated in eastern Syria last month. Iraq claimed victory over the group in December 2017. These military victories, however, have not dealt a death blow to the group or its ideology. Sleeper cells and small groups carry out kidnappings and assassinations and try to undermine government authority through attacks on infrastructure and “creating a sense of lawlessness,” according to the UN. Sulaimani Asayesh on Tuesday announced they had “foiled” a terror plot by the group, PUK media reported. "Based on intelligence information, secret follow-ups, and round-the-clock efforts, we tracked down three different gangs trying to disturb the security of the Region and Sulaimani,” the Asayesh stated. They arrested eight people accused of being members of ISIS, “all Arabs.” At its peak, ISIS ruled over some 10 million people across Syria and Iraq. Today, the United Nations estimates some 14,000 to 18,000 militants remain active on both sides of the border.
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