Shafaq News/ The Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) announced on Saturday the arrest of two high-ranking ISIS leaders in a cross-border operation. In a statement, the Security Media Cell (SMC) said that after years of tracking, INIS forces apprehended two ISIS leaders involved in “terrorist activities across Iraq."
The operation took place outside Iraq’s borders, and the captured individuals have been brought back to the country. SMC added.
According to the statement, the terrorists were identified as Issam Abdul Ali Saidan, also known as “Abu Zaid,” an ISIS media operative in the Fallujah, responsible for beheading of soldier Kazem Al-Rikabi and overseeing all media activities for terrorist groups in Fallujah since 2014.
The second is Bashir Abdul Ali Saidan, known as “Abu Ahmad Itisalat,” a military figure in the Fallujah responsible for all “terrorist operations for ISIS in Fallujah after 2014. He specialized in securing and encrypting communications for the leaders of the terrorist groups.”
It is noteworthy, Iraq declared victory over ISIS in 2017. Still, the activities of the terrorist organization are increasing in the so-called triangle of death among the governorates of Diyala, Kirkuk, and Saladin.
Specialists attribute this activity to an attempt by the extremists, either to take revenge for their loss in these areas or the need to find safe places far from the security forces.