Nine suspected ISIS members arrested in Sulaimani

Sulaimani security forces (Asayish) on Wednesday announced the arrest of nine suspected members of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Kurdistan Region’s cities.

“After gaining concise intelligence on nine ISIS members, who resided in the cities of the Kurdistan Region to hide, after obtaining the approval from an investigative judge, all of them [ISIS members] were arrested as a result of two successful operations,” read a statement from Asayish.

The suspects had allegedly participated in several “terrorist” activities and were wanted individuals based on Article 4 of the Iraqi anti-terrorism law, the security forces added. All nine individuals have been handed to the judiciary.

Article 4 of the 2005 Iraqi anti-terrorism law stipulates that anyone who participates in committing a “terrorist act,” as defined by the law, shall be given the death sentence, with life imprisonment sentences being handed out to those found guilty of intentionally concealing a “terrorist act” or harboring a perpetrator of the act.

ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but it continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.

Thousands of people have been detained across Iraq since 2014 for suspected links to terrorist groups, including ISIS, while hundreds have been executed.

Source » rudaw.net