Five terror suspects arrested in Sulaimani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish security forces (Asayish) on Sunday announced the arrest of five individuals in Sulaimani on terror-related charges. One of the suspects operated an improvised explosive device (IED) factory.

“All five have a history of criminal activities and were previously sought by Iraqi courts,” the Asayish said in a statement.

They were arrested during separate operations carried out between May 15 and May 20.

The Asayish did not identify what groups or organizations the five suspects were affiliated with.

Kurdish security forces have arrested several suspected members of the Islamic State (ISIS) this year.

Earlier this month, security forces announced the arrest of Soqrat Khalil Ismail who was allegedly responsible for explosives for ISIS and played a key role in the invasion of Mosul in June 2014.

In February, the Asayish announced the arrest of 30 ISIS suspects who were accused of “spreading the extremist ideas of ISIS” on social media platforms. And in November, 55 ISIS suspects, including three emirs, were arrested in a five-month long operation in Sulaimani.

ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Iraq 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, and hundreds have been executed.