ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi forces arrested several Islamic State (ISIS) suspects across the country on Sunday, a top military spokesperson said, with state media reporting a suspected ISIS leader was killed as forces raided his home north of Baghdad.
Intelligence forces raided Hassan Ismail’s house in the al-Khazna district of north Baghdad, state media reported, claiming he was killed in ensuing clashes.
Seven other ISIS militants were arrested in Nineveh province on the same day, Iraq's top military spokesperson Yehia Rasool said in a tweet.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, but remains a threat on both sides of the border, carrying out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.
The forces also seized materials and explosives from two other suspects that were arrested in Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmartu. Three ISIS hideouts were also destroyed.
Iraqi forces on Saturday morning launched a large-scale security operation to clear out the group’s remnants in northern Baghdad. A number of suspects were arrested.
Four ISIS members were arrested by the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (ICTS) in various operations across the country on Friday.
The operations follow numerous ISIS attacks against the country's electricity grid, leaving millions across central and southern Iraq without power.
Iraqi forces have reported thwarting tens of attacks on the electricity towers, and in an emergency security meeting on Friday, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered the establishment of a crisis cell to ensure the power grid is protected.
In its propaganda magazine, ISIS claims to have carried out 134 attacks on electricity towers between June 6 and August 10. Its claimed activities have not decreased, despite Iraq’s security efforts, as the group said it carried out 33 attacks on power pylons in the last week alone.
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