ERBIL - At least seven insurgents of the Islamic State (IS) were captured in the Iraqi province of Nineveh on Tuesday.

The seven were arrested by the intelligence forces during an operation in the district of al-Baaj, Nineveh province, Fadel Abu Reghif, a security expert, explained to IKH News.

The jihadists had been wanted by the judiciary, he added without giving further details on the arrested militants.

Former Iraqi government announced the full victory over the Islamic State in late 2017, while the extremist group's sleeper cells still impose a great threat to civilians and the security forces in most liberated areas in the country.

Earlier on Monday afternoon, the jihadist group's top leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi appeared in a video for the first time since 2014. He admitted to have conducted the attacks in Sri Lanka and France while threatening to continue their terrorist activities in the world as a revenge for their loss in Iraq and Syria.

Bas News