Police officer arrested on charges of smuggling families of ISIS elements

A police officer was arrested on Thursday on charges of smuggling the families of Islamic State (IS) elements from Nineveh governorate to Salahuddin governorate, the Ministry of Interior said.

“The arrest was based on intelligence information as security forces ambushed the police officer on a road lining between Baiji and Tikrit cities while he was smuggling families of the terrorists,” the ministry added in a statement.

The suspect was referred to investigation bodies for questioning and confessed to working with the IS terror group exploiting his position, the statement added.

Since Iraqi forces launched offensives last year to recapture areas held by the Islamic State, occasional news reports emerged quoting local officials and parliamentarians speaking about corrupt security members setting militants free in return for money.

Earlier today. Anbar’s local council blamed recurrent breaches by IS militants of the province’s security on corruption within security bodies besides what it described as the infiltration of paramilitary troops fighting the group alongside the government.

The United Nations had recently warned against “collective punishments” of civilians believed to have links with IS members. Authorities in Mosul had unveiled plans to isolate those families and send them to rehabilitation camps.

Source: Iraqi News