Five IS members arrested in Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) – Erbil Security Forces (Asayish) on Saturday arrested five people in the city of Erbil for having links to the Islamic State (IS).

In an official statement, the Erbil Asayish said security forces were able to locate and arrest five suspects linked to the extremist group.

The announcement added the suspects had plans to join IS in the city of Hawija in western Kirkuk.

“After investigations and monitoring, the security forces were able to arrest the group of five IS members who had plans to join radicals in Hawija,” the Asayish explained.

The statement revealed the identity and photos of the IS extremists as Hawar Yousif Abulkareem, Halmat Omer Othman, Hani Ibrahim Rasheed, Farhang Abbas Abdulrahman, and Abdulla Baqi Abdulla.

Further details on the detained IS members and their confessions will be released in the near future, the report concluded.

Recently the Kurdistan Region Security Forces arrested dozens of IS insurgents in the Region for having links to the extremist group.

On Jan. 31, the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) announced the arrest of several IS members in the village of Bajwan, west of Kirkuk, who were planning an attack in the city.

The detainees were identified as Barzan Muhammed Mkhlef, the leader of the IS group also known as Qah, Rukan Muhammed Khalaf, Ahmed Muhammed Khalaf, Muhammed Ali Ibrahim, and Fars Mukhlf Aswad.

Additionally, on Jan. 30, the KRSC stated its Counter-Terrorism forces arrested one of the main perpetrators of the 2015 terror attack in Ainkawa, Erbil.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany