Camp Speicher massacre suspect detained in Salahaddin

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi counter- terrorism forces (ICTS) detained “one of the most dangerous terrorists” allegedly part of the 2014 Camp Speicher massacre, an Iraqi senior military official announced on Sunday.

Yehia Rasool, spokesperson of Iraqi Commander-in-Chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi - who is also the prime minister – announced the suspect’s arrest in Salahaddin province on Sunday.

“Under the guidance of the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the heroes in ICTS continue their operations to pursue terrorists. They have managed to arrest the criminal (N, T) who is considered one of the most dangerous terrorists who participated in the Speicher massacre,” Rasool tweeted, referring to the suspect only by their initials.

The Camp Speicher massacre is considered one of the Islamic State’s (ISIS) most brutal crimes in Iraq.

On June 12, 2014, about 1,566 Shiite cadets undergoing training at the camp in Tikrit were executed by ISIS militants, who had initially promised them safe passage.

Camp Speicher, which is currently named Majid al-Timimi air base, is located in the town of Tikrit, approximately 170 kilometers north of Baghdad.

More than 50 people accused of taking part in the massacre have already been sentenced to death by Iraqi authorities. Thirty-six of them were hanged in August 2016.

Rasool’s statement was also published by the ICTS minutes later on their official Twitter account.

Last year, Iraqi security forces captured an ISIS militant who allegedly participated in the massacre.

At the height of its power between 2014 and 2016, ISIS controlled an area roughly the size of Great Britain, spread across both Iraq and Syria.

Although Baghdad announced the territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq in December 2017, remnants of the group have returned to their earlier insurgency tactics, ambushing security forces, kidnapping and executing suspected informants, and extorting money from vulnerable rural populations, particularly in territory contested by Erbil and Baghdad.