Iraqi authorities announce capture of Islamic State official in Mosul

Iraqi troops arrested on Monday a senior Islamic State leader during a security operation in the eastern side of Mosul, once the de-facto capital of the terrorist group in Iraq.

“Iraqi military intelligence forces arrested the Islamic State’s booty official in al-Zahraa district in the eastern side of Mosul,” Almaalomah news website quoted the Military Intelligence Directorate as saying in a press statement.

“His arrest came after intelligence forces received accurate data on his location,” the statement read.

Former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi announced in July 2017 liberation of the second largest Iraqi city of Mosul from IS militants, who had captured it in 2014. More than 25,000 militants were killed throughout the campaign, which started in October 2016.

The campaign was backed by paramilitary troops and a U.S.-led international coalition.

Iraq declared the collapse of Islamic State’s territorial influence in Iraq in November 2017 with the recapture of Rawa, a city on Anbar’s western borders with Syria, which was the group’s last bastion in Iraq.

Despite the group’s crushing defeat at its main havens across Iraq, Islamic State continues to launch sporadic attacks against troops with security reports warning that the militant group still poses a threat against stability in the country.

Source: Iraqi News