Kurdistan security reveals identity of captured jihadists
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – On Wednesday, the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) revealed the identity of the four Islamic State (IS) members they arrested in Kirkuk Province.
In a security operation in Kirkuk, Kurdistan Region security forces captured four IS militants guilty of many terrorist activities in the province.
One of the captured members was Tariq Habib Abdullah Zubaydi. He is 24-years-old and has four children. Zubaydi resided in Diyala Province in southern Iraq and joined IS in 2007.
“Our main duty was to prepare bombs to use against Iraqi and American forces,” Zubaydi admitted in a video released by the KRSC on Wednesday.
He moved to the town of Khurmatu in southern Kirkuk, ordered by his leader named Abu Hassan. “My colleagues and I prepared vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIED) and targeted Iraqi security forces in a restaurant called Janatul Iraq,” he revealed.
According to Zubaydi, IS also detonated a VBIED in Khurmatu – Tikrit main road. He mentioned that he received a pistol with a silencer from his leader in Kirkuk and assassinated the cleric of Safa Mosque named Fayeq Fakhri Raghban at 4:00 am on April 15, 2016.
They also prepared another VBIED to target the Kirkuk Emergency Police station, but the security forces arrested them before they could execute their plan.
Shahab Ahmad Lafta Moukhlif Obeidi, born in 1982, is another one of the captured members.
He resided in Hamreen town in Salahaddin Province. Obeidi went to Diyala Province to join IS and then moved to Kirkuk. In Kirkuk, he changed his name from Abu Omar to Abu Murtaza.
He participated in many terrorist activities, including the attempt on Kirkuk Emergency Police station.
The third member, Watyan Mohamad Khalaf Sleman Jibburi, is a lawyer born in 1976. Jibburi has three children and resided in Sleman Beg village of Hawija town in Kirkuk.
He moved to Hawija when IS controlled the town. In Hawija, he met an IS leader named Abu Ali, who was responsible for IS prisoners.
“They sent me USD $15,000 as a reward to free prisoners arrested by the Kurdish security in Kirkuk,” Jibburi said.
Jassim Ahmad Mohamad Ziyab Obeidi is the fourth captured IS member in the Kurdish security operation. He is 22-years-old and joined IS in 2015. He is from Kirkuk and lived in Hay Askari neighborhood.
Obeidi mentioned that he joined IS through his father. He moved to Hawija for military training by IS and then returned to Kirkuk to commit terrorist activities.
Kurdish security has conducted many intelligence operations in the past leading to the arrest of several senior IS leaders, including the rescue of a Swedish lady in Mosul.
Reporting by Mewan Dolamari
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany