Iraq court jails two ‘Lone Wolves’ cell members over ISIS propaganda

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Central Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced two members of what authorities described as the “Lone Wolves” cell to five years and one month in prison for promoting Islamic State group ideology online and planning attacks, the judiciary said.

The court found the two guilty of publishing “extremist racist ideas” on social media, supporting ISIS and taking part in incitement and planning for attacks as members of the cell, the judiciary’s media office said.

The Baghdad-based court hears many terrorism cases under Iraq’s anti-terrorism laws, and the judgment follows a series of similar convictions for promoting ISIS and other banned groups.

Iraqi forces carried out an airborne raid and airstrikes on six suspected Islamic State hideouts in Kirkuk’s Wadi Zghaitun early Monday, extending operations against the group’s cells in the remote valley and surrounding areas. The operation came about two weeks after a Counter-Terrorism Service officer was killed in a clash with ISIS militants while inspecting sites hit in earlier raids north of Kirkuk. Iraqi F-16s later carried out three more strikes in the area, coordinated with federal forces and the Kurdistan Region’s Commando Forces.

ISIS seized large parts of northern and western Iraq in 2014 before Iraqi security forces, backed by the U.S.-led international coalition, retook the territory over several years. In December 2017, then-Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the group. It no longer holds territory in Iraq, but security forces continue operations against its cells while courts prosecute suspects on membership, support, recruitment and propaganda charges under anti-terrorism laws.