Iraqi security forces have detained seven suspected ISIS militants during operations in various provinces, according to state media, as the country intensifies its efforts to eliminate jihadist remnants. 

Military intelligence forces carried out separate operations “through well-planned ambushes and raids on terrorist locations” that “resulted in the arrest of seven terrorists wanted by the Iraqi judiciary under the provisions of Article 4 of the Counter-Terrorism Law in the provinces of Anbar, Kirkuk, and Nineveh,” state media said. 

The statement mentions that individuals convicted of terror-related offenses receive a death sentence, while those who assist or conceal terrorists face life imprisonment.

“The terrorists were operating and belonging to ISIS terrorist gangs in various ranks, and had also participated in several terrorist attacks against Iraqi security forces in the past,”

the statement added. 

Moreover, a few days ago, Iraqi security forces announced the arrest of eight suspected Islamic State (ISIS) members throughout three provinces as Baghdad intensifies its efforts against jihadist remnants in the nation 

Military intelligence forces “carried out several preemptive operations in various areas of the Anbar, Nineveh, and Maysan provinces,” state media reported, in which “eight suspects were arrested who belong to ISIS terrorist gangs.” 

They faced arrest due to Article Four of the 2005 Counter-Terrorism Law, which says that anyone found guilty of committing a terror offense is given a death sentence. Individuals who aid or conceal those convicted of terrorism face life imprisonment.

In early March, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani announced the death of the Islamic State’s (ISIS’s) Deputy Caliph, who was referred to as the “Wali of Iraq and Syria.”

Sudani announced that senior ISIS figure Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rufay’i, known as Abu Khadija, was killed during an operation carried out by the Iraqi National Intelligence Service. In 2024, Iraqi security forces apprehended more than 500 terror suspects, as reported by the Iraqi National Security Service.

In 2014, ISIS took over significant areas of Iraqi land. Although the group was officially declared territorially defeated in 2017, it still conducts bombings, hit-and-run assaults, and kidnappings in multiple provinces.

In recent months, Iraqi security forces have ramped up their efforts against ISIS cells, especially in the contested regions between Baghdad and Erbil, which include the provinces of Kirkuk, Salahaddin, Nineveh, and Diyala. Additionally, Iraq’s air force regularly conducts airstrikes targeting ISIS hideouts in these disputed areas. 

In late February, the chief of Iraq’s Security Media Cell informed Rudaw that Iraqi security forces have mostly eliminated ISIS in the country, leaving only a few hundred militants in isolated regions.