Iraq arrests nine IS sleeper cell members in different cities: Military

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi military announced on Saturday that its forces had arrested nine members of "sleeper cells" loyal to the Islamic State (IS) in various parts of the country that morning. Officials have warned of the existence of many such cells belonging to the extremist organization having been forced to go into hiding or choosing to blend into Iraqi populations after its military defeat in Iraq.

Iraq's Defense Ministry said in a statement that its military intelligence detachments "arrested four terrorists in an ambush" and that two others were arrested in separate operations in the western province of Anbar.

In the northern city of Mosul, read the statement, military intelligence units arrested three more.

"These men are wanted by the judiciary," it added, specifying that all arrests were made in accordance with Article 4 of the nation's 2005 Anti-Terrorism Law.

The article is commonly referenced by Iraqi security forces and officials as the legal framework in which an arrest was made, yet it deals exclusively with punishments to be handed down by courts, not investigative or arrest procedures.

In recent months, IS activity has been on a steady increase, with a spike in guerilla-style tactics that include car bombs and the setting up of fake security checkpoints to kidnap residents and Iraqi security force members.

Such incidents are similar to tactics the extremists had adopted in the years before taking over large swaths of territory in Iraq in 2014, including both Anbar province and Mosul.