KRSC releases confession of five IS members

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) on Sunday released the confessions of five Islamic State (IS) members arrested by the Region’s security forces.

In an official statement, the KRSC released the testimony of five men who had plans to join the extremist group in the city of Hawija, western Kirkuk.

Erbil Security Forces (Asayish) on Saturday announced they had detained five people in the city of Erbil for having links to the insurgent group.

According to the KRSC statement, the supervisor of the IS group, Hawar Yousif Ghafour, previously joined the al-Nusra Front in Syria through a wanted terrorist Shkar Pola.

Ghafour explained he decided to return to Iraq as his ideology was more prone to that of IS.

The KRSC report also revealed the identity and photos of the four other IS extremists as Halmat Omer Othman, Hani Ibrahim Rasheed, Farhang Abbas Abdulrahman, and Abdulla Baqi Abdulla.

Gafour said he made contact with Kayfi Hamadameen, a senior IS member in Hawija, through social media networks.

Moreover, alongside the other four members from Halabja Province, Gafour pledged allegiance to IS and attempted to join the extremist group in Hawija.

The group travelled to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, then to Makhmour, but were arrested by Asayish forces on route to the IS-held Halwat area.

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

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany