ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two Islamic State (ISIS) suspects were arrested in the northern province of Kirkuk, the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) announced on Sunday, adding that they have located and confiscated a weapons depot in a separate operation in the province.
Citing reliance on “accurate intelligence and continuous surveillance,” the ICTS said the two ISIS “remnants” were apprehended in different operations.
It added, “As part of ongoing operations to clear and neutralize the remnants of the defeated ISIS terrorist gangs, our heroes carried out an operation that successfully neutralized an ammunition cache containing mortar shells, rockets, RPG-7 propellants, and hand grenades.”
Movements of the ISIS militants have notably risen in recent months, particularly in Kirkuk.
Earlier in July, ICTS said it had sniped a prominent member of the group in the province. Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out airstrikes on ISIS hideouts a day after in the Dibis district of northern Kirkuk.
The counter-terrorism force lost a soldier in the clashes.
Furthermore, a Kurdish farmer in the same area mysteriously disappeared after heading to his cornfield to arrange irrigation.
ISIS seized large swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq in 2014 before being defeated in 2017 after three years of intense fighting. Despite its defeat, the group continues to pose a security threat, particularly in disputed areas between Erbil and Baghdad, spanning the provinces of Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Salahaddin.
