ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi security forces on Wednesday announced the arrest of “one of the most dangerous” suspected leaders of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the northern Nineveh province, as the country continues to combat remnants of the jihadists. “In a new qualitative achievement … a force from the Popular Mobilization Forces [PMF] was able to overthrow one of the most dangerous leaders of the remnants of the terrorist ISIS in Nineveh province,” state media reported, citing a PMF statement. The suspect allegedly “participated in terrorist operations against the Iraqi army and security forces,” the statement said, adding that he has been referred to relevant legal authorities. He was responsible for ISIS’ Sharia courts in its so-called Waleed Sector of Nineveh province, the statement added. The PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi, was created in 2014 when Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the highest Shiite authority in Iraq, issued a fatwa urging young Iraqis to take up arms against ISIS. The Iraqi government has since officially brought the PMF into the country’s security apparatus. ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi territory during a brazen offensive in 2014, sweeping through vast stretches of northern and central Iraq. But the jihadists’ so-called “caliphate” would come to an end in 2017 as Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, supported by a US-led international coalition, clawed back territory from the group. Despite its territorial defeat, ISIS has continued to pose security threats in the country through hit-and-run attacks, bombings, and abductions in several provinces, particularly in areas disputed between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which stretch across several provinces including Nineveh, Diyala, Salahaddin, and Kirkuk.
