Nineveh
Military intelligence agency captures terror suspect, destroys ISIS tunnel
NINEVEH — The Military Intelligence Agency announced Saturday the arrest of a terrorism suspect in Tal Afar district and the destruction of an Islamic State tunnel in the Adaiya Mountains area of Nineveh, conducted in two separate missions based on intelligence from the 15th Division Intelligence Division and ground security forces.
The Islamic State, which captured large areas in Iraq and Syria in 2014 and declared a caliphate, was ousted from Iraq in 2017 by Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga, with support from a U.S.-led coalition. The group lost its last territory in Syria in 2019 to U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.
The agency said in a statement, “An ambush was set up, resulting in the arrest of a terrorist wanted by the Iraqi judiciary under Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Law in Tal Afar.”
Further, acting on intelligence about an underground tunnel used by ISIS in the Adaiya Mountains, military intelligence units discovered a 60-meter-long, 3-meter-high tunnel containing three rooms used by the group to store ammunition and supplies. The tunnel was destroyed and sealed by engineering units.
The suspect was handed over to the authorities after legal procedures were completed, while the engineering teams ensured the tunnel was completely demolished and rendered unusable.
On the 10th anniversary of the Speicher Massacre, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani noted that terrorist groups no longer pose a significant threat to Iraq’s security. “Our heroic security forces have repeatedly defeated them, reducing their gangs to scattered remnants that no longer threaten our nation’s security,” he said.
However, recent weeks have seen a resurgence in militant attacks. On May 14, an attack in Salah Al-Din governorate killed an army officer and four soldiers. A week later, a vehicle carrying five Iraqi army officers near Suleiman Beg was bombed, resulting in one death and four injuries. The following day, an improvised explosive device killed five family members on the Baiji-Haditha Road in Anbar governorate, which officials say was recently planted.
A January United Nations report estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 ISIS fighters are still active across Iraq and Syria.
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