Eurasia Press & News
Elite forces from the Kurdistan Region’s Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) arrested two ISIS arms smugglers in Erbil, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (SOJTF LEVANT), part of the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
“Today the CTD conducted operations in the Al Zaytun area of Erbil, Iraq which resulted in the capture of two Daesh (Arabic acronym for ISIS) arms smugglers,” read a post on the official Twitter account of the SOJTF LEVANT.
It concluded, “These operations deny Daesh the ability to smuggle, store and transport weapons.”
The operation has not yet been confirmed publicly by the CTD, which falls under the command of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC).
The SOJTF LEVANT oversees Special Operations activities in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt, and earlier replaced the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, which was focused only on Iraq and Syria, the Military Times reported.
Earlier this week, the Kurdistan Region’s Asayish security forces arrested an ISIS suspect in Halabja province.
During the previous week, also in Halabja, the Asayish said it had captured 25 suspected ISIS facilitators.
Anti-ISIS operations have intensified in the Kurdistan Region and disputed Iraqi territories since late November, following the death of 23 Peshmerga fighters or civilians in multiple attacks there by militants loyal to the extremist organization.
In one such operation, a joint brigade of the Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga was deployed to a village in a disputed area of northwest Kirkuk province on Dec. 6 following a deadly ISIS attack in the preceding days.
Also on Thursday, the KRG Ministry of Interior announced the formation of a new special operations room dedicated to locating and apprehending those wanted for arrest those
A ministry spokesperson told reporters in Erbil that the new office would “consist of representation from the region’s security apparatuses, with the aim of the operation room to pursue and arrest criminals both domestically and those “wanted outside the region and Iraq, in coordination with Interpol, to bring them to face trial.”
