“A group of ISIS terrorists were arrested by Kurdistan’s general counter-terrorism directorate… they were planning to carry out terrorist activities inside Erbil city,” the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council (KRSC) said in a statement published along with video confessions from the suspects.
The group was ordered to carry out activities in Erbil by an ISIS emir known as Abu Harith and they attempted to bring explosive devices into the city, to plant “inside Erbil city’s bazaar and also target foreign and security personnel,” said the KRSC.
They were apprehended in a joint effort by the counter-terror directorate and Erbil’s Asayish (internal security forces).
“Abu Harith asked us to specify some locations inside the bazaar to attack, that will go viral in the media,” said Haidar Abdulwahab, one of the suspects who was asked to form a group by an acquaintance of his father, who was an ISIS member and killed in an airstrike.
The group had met in Erbil citadel where they were tasked by Abu Harith to film ISIS members inside and near the bazaar and publish the videos on Telegram to show militants present inside the city.
Abu Harith also asked them to specify some places “that have foreigners” and “asked us to target a place around the citadel,” said Ahmed Haitham, another of the suspects.
Erbil citadel sits at the heart of the Kurdistan Region capital. It is a popular destination for tourists and locals, and overlooks Shar Square and the central bazaar.
Three of the seven suspects are minors. KRSC said ISIS is recruiting teenagers, especially those who have family members tied to ISIS, and forces them to work for the group.
Although ISIS was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017, remnants of the terror group remain active across the country, particularly in areas disputed between Baghdad and Erbil.
Kurdish forces have made two other major arrests of ISIS suspects this summer. Five were arrested in Sulaimani and Halabja in late July. Another five were arrested in Erbil two weeks earlier.
