ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq's National Security Service (INSS) has arrested 15 people accused of plotting assassinations against senior security officials, including the head of the agency, after what it described as a complex intelligence operation targeting a banned group linked to the toppled Ba’ath party.
Arshad al-Hakim, spokesperson for the INSS, told Rudaw on Friday that "in a highly complex intelligence operation, the National Security Service succeeded in infiltrating one of the fronts of the banned Ba'ath Party. We arrested 15 individuals who were conducting operations involving threats and incitement to destabilize security and stability."
The Ba'ath Party is banned in Iraq under the Law of the Prohibition of the Ba'ath Party and Dissolved Entities in 2016, which prohibits political and intellectual activity linked to the party and imposes legal penalties for its promotion.
The party had ruled Iraq from 1968 until 2003, when the US-led invasion of the country resulted in the ouster of the long-seated dictator Saddam Hussein.
Operating under the “National Gathering for Liberation,” Hakim said their initial infiltration revealed that the suspects were instructed by their leaders to carry out targeted assassinations.
"They were assigned the task of eliminating and assassinating several figures, most notably the head of the National Security Service, the service's official spokesperson, the director general of Baghdad security, and several other officers," he said.
Hakim noted that the suspects were being tracked closely over “several infiltrations”, adding that they “were aware of everything that was happening.”
The spokesperson added that authorities intervened when the group allegedly moved beyond incitement and began preparing for attacks.
"There was talk of 'zero hour' and discussions regarding the locations and movements of these leaders and officers," he said, adding that the operation was thwarted and the "perpetrators were arrested and referred to the judiciary."
Last year, Iraq arrested 135 people suspected of having links to the banned Baath party in a nationwide campaign.
The arrests came less than a month before Iraq’s parliamentary elections, which had seen the disqualification of hundreds of candidates on charges linked to the Baath party.
Saddam Hussein’s oppressive regime was responsible for numerous crimes against humanity, including the Anfal genocide against the Kurds. The campaign reached its deadliest point in 1988 with the Halabja chemical attack that killed around 5,000 people and injured 10,000 more.
Hussein was executed in 2006 after he was sentenced to death for the killing of 148 Shiites. His trial on charges related to the Anfal genocide was still ongoing at the time of his execution.
