ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sulaimani security forces (Asayish) on Sunday announced the dismantling of the Islamic State's (ISIS) so-called Kurdistan State cell, following months-long operations across the Kurdistan Region and the disputed areas.
General Directorate of Security Forces’ Operations announced in a statement that it had conducted a series of operations from August 9 to November 22, in coordination with other Kurdish forces and and the Iraqi army.
The operations spanned across the Sulaimani, Halabja, and Kirkuk provinces, targeting the group’s so-called Kurdistan Wilayat (state) - which Asayish deemed as "dangerous."
“During this process aimed at stabilizing the Kurdistan Region, five ISIS terrorists were killed, and 14 were arrested. A number of weapons, explosive devices, suicide belts, and thermal military cameras were seized, and all their hideouts were destroyed,” read the statement from Asayish.
Three members of Asayish forces were killed during the operations, and three others were injured. There also three injuries from the Iraqi security forces.
The ISIS cell aimed at “connecting the sleeping cells in Kurdistan [Region] and Iraq with terrorists in Turkey and Iran,” according to the statement, adding that they also planned to set up checkpoints wearing military uniforms to kidnap businessmen to finance the group.
The statement also noted that it has detained several ISIS suspects in Sharazoor, which later rejoined their families following rehabilitation.
ISIS was in control of swathes of Iraqi territory at its height in 2014. The Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga fought to retake areas of the country controlled by the extremists and declared the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2017. The United States-led global coalition provided both forces with air and ground support, as well as training and equipment.
Despite its territorial defeat, the militants have taken shelter in the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad, where there is a security vacuum.
Last week, the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga ministry announced two Kurdish Peshmerga commanders and another fighter were killed, with three soldiers wounded when an IED exploded on a joint Iraqi-Kurdish patrol in Salahaddin province’s Tuz Khurmatu, located about 65 kilometers south of Kirkuk city.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
