Baghdad court sentences ISIS member to life in prison over drone attack plot

BAGHDAD — A Baghdad court sentenced an Islamic State member to life imprisonment Wednesday for planning drone attacks targeting civilians in the capital, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said.

The Karkh Criminal Court found the defendant in possession of a drone he planned to use “to carry out terrorist operations to destabilize security and stability in Baghdad in 2024,” according to the council. He used his home as a workshop to manufacture and prepare drones, and also used them to transport financial donations to ISIS.

Despite the collapse of IS’s self-declared caliphate in late 2017, Iraqi authorities say remnants continue to operate through sleeper cells and sporadic attacks in rural and border areas.

The sentencing comes as Iraq continues to process a large influx of ISIS-linked detainees transferred from Syria. The Justice Ministry said in February that 5,703 detainees transferred from Syria are being held in Iraqi prisons, representing more than 60 nationalities, including 467 Iraqis, 3,543 Syrians and 983 foreigners. The transfers followed security disruptions at detention facilities in northern Syria in January. Iraqi authorities say all detainees are being held pending investigation and trial under Iraqi law.