Counter-Terrorism Service arrests suspects in Anbar, seizes cache in Diyala

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service announced the arrest of three terrorism suspects in separate operations in Anbar governorate and the recovery of an ammunition cache in Diyala.

The service said its forces, “based on precise intelligence information and in accordance with judicial orders,” arrested three suspects in separate operations in Ramadi, Fallujah and al-Qaim.

In a separate operation, the service said, its forces recovered and cleared an ammunition cache in Diyala governorate, seizing materials and munitions it said had been left behind by remnants of terrorist groups.

The service said the operations were part of a continued intelligence and field effort to pursue the remnants of terrorism and strengthen security.

Iraq has faced waves of militant violence over the past two decades. After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, armed groups including al-Qaeda in Iraq carried out bombings and assassinations. In 2014, the Islamic State group seized large areas of the country, including Mosul, before losing territorial control by late 2017 following a campaign by Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga backed by a U.S.-led coalition.

Earlier this month, Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said F-16 jets had carried out three airstrikes on Islamic State hideouts north of Kirkuk, hours after a Counter-Terrorism Service officer was killed during a search of sites hit in earlier raids. A service unit had been sent to inspect the locations when a clash broke out, killing a first lieutenant and one militant, the command said. The service identified the officer as Hassan Khudair Zughair.