Islamic State cell of 13 members arrested in anti-terrorist operation west of Mosul

An Islamic State cell has been arrested in a wide-scale security operation, west of Mosul, Nineveh police commander said on Tuesday.

Speaking to BasNews, Maj. Gen. Hamada Names al-Jabouri said, “local security forces managed, today, to cordon off western Ahlila village, west of Mosul, after information from the intelligence indicated presence of an Islamic State cells there.”

Troops, according to Jabouri, “managed to arrest 13 members of a dormant cell. Weapons were confiscated. The members were taken to the headquarters of Nineveh Operations Command for investigations ahead of standing trial before Iraqi judiciary.”

Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks across Iraq against troops. Security reports indicate that the militant group still poses threat against stability in the country.

The group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks, across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.

Last week, the Iraqi Security Center said troops arrested eighteen Islamic State members, while attempting to escape from east to west of Mosul.

Thousands of Islamic State militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016.

In December, the Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced gaining control on all the territories that were captured by Islamic State, since 2014.

Source: Iraqi News