Iraq’s intelligence service said Thursday it detained 40 members of the Islamic State (IS) group as part of a major operation in Baghdad and Diyala provinces.
“The Iraqi national intelligence service, in coordination with Baghdad and Diyala security forces, carried out an operation which resulted in the arrest of 40 members of varying rank,” a statement said.
Diyala is a province just northeast of the capital where IS has not had fixed positions in almost a year but has carried out several deadly suicide car bombings.
“Many bombs, suicide belts and cars used by the terrorists were seized, as well as large amounts of money they used to fund their criminal activities,” the statement said.
According to an Amnesty International report published earlier this month, decades of irresponsible arms transfers to Iraq fuelled the IS group’s firepower and ability to carry out atrocities on a massive scale.
The intelligence service said the detained IS members had requested assistance from cells in other parts of the country, suggesting the group is weakened in Baghdad.
The swoop was the continuation of an operation that had already resulted in more than 30 arrests and the dismantling of a car bomb-making cell in Baghdad in March.
Earlier in December, the US Army announced it would deploy a new special operations force to Iraq to step up the fight against the IS group unleashing violence in Iraq and Syria.
