BAGHDAD, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces arrested two senior members of the Islamic State (IS) group in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan and the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Iraqi security forces said on Friday.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council announced in a statement the arrest of Socrates Khalil, who was the right hand of the former IS top leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The statement added that Khalil spent five years in Türkiye, but he entered the Kurdistan region with a forged passport and was immediately arrested.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces announced in a statement the arrest of "a leader of terrorist IS group" in Baghdad.
The statement did not provide further details about the detained person but said that he was active within the IS terrorist group in Iraq's western province of Anbar and north of Baghdad areas.
In July 2017, Iraq declared the liberation of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, from the IS, which took control of the city in 2014.
The security situation in Iraq has improved since the defeat of the IS in 2017. However, IS remnants have sneaked into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. ■
