Three suspected ISIS members arrested in Iraq

Iraqi intelligence forces on Wednesday announced they had arrested three suspected Islamic State (ISIS) members in separate operations in Nineveh and Anbar provinces as operations against the terror group rise.

Iraqi security forces set up ambush points in the districts of Fallujah and Rutba in Anbar province and Tal Afar in Nineveh to successfully arrest three alleged ISIS members, the country’s intelligence directorate said in a statement.

The arrests come as Iraq ramps up its efforts to pursue ISIS remnants in the country in response to escalating militant activities, particularly in areas disputed between the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in 2014 but it was declared territorially defeated in 2017 when Kurdish and Iraqi fighters supported by the US-led coalition drove them out of the stretches of land they seized years prior in a brazen offensive.

Despite its territorial defeat, the group continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several Iraqi provinces, particularly those falling in the disputed areas stretching across the provinces of Kirkuk, Salahaddin, and Diyala.

On Wednesday, Iraqi warplanes killed at least three ISIS members and destroyed their hideouts in Salahaddin province.