Security

Iraq says arrested IS member for gathering intel

The man, whose name was not given, was detained by "intelligence units charged with the security of tourist infrastructure", a ministry press release said.

AFP 2023/08/27 21:05

Iraqi forces search the area in Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, following clashes with Islamic State group fighters, Feb. 20, 2021. (Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)

Iraq ISIS Baghdad iraqi interior ministry

Iraq's interior ministry said Sunday an Islamic State group member had been arrested in a Baghdad hotel, accusing him of carrying out intelligence-gathering missions for the jihadist organisation.

The man, whose name was not given, was detained by "intelligence units charged with the security of tourist infrastructure", a ministry press release said.

It said he was accused of supplying the jihadists with "personal information about members of the security forces in Nineveh province" in northern Iraq.

The man had confessed to being an IS member, it added.

IS jihadists seized swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014, declaring a "caliphate" which they ruled with brutality before their defeat in late 2017 by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led military coalition.

However, jihadist cells still stage sporadic attacks on the army and police, especially in rural and remote areas.

A United Nations report published in July said IS has "between 5,000 and 7,000 members across Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic, most of whom are fighters".