Iraqi forces arrest five ISIS members, chief explosives expert in Diyala

During an intelligence operation in Diyala, Iraqi security forces successfully detained the Islamic State’s (IS) chief explosives expert in that province, a security source said on Thursday.

The IS chief, identified as Abu Yassin, was responsible for manufacturing and distributing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), a security source was quoted as saying by Iraqi media Al-Furat News.

“Security forces carried out a qualitative operation in the province of Diyala, which led to the arrest of an official [responsible for] improvised explosive devices,” the source said.

They added that the IED chief was arrested along with five other IS extremists after Iraqi security forces “received accurate intelligence about [Abu Yassin’s] presence in a house in the district of Khanaqin.”

Abu Yassin was involved in several murders and responsible for the recent bombings in Diyala Province, the source said.

Although Iraq declared a “final victory” over the extremist group late last year, IS continues to carry out bombings, ambushes, kidnappings, and other attacks on a regular basis.

A security source told Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday that an unidentified gunman detonated a bomb inside a shop in the center of a local market in the embattled city of Baqubah, in Diyala, killing at least one and wounding seven more.

There were no reports of injuries at a girls’ school, located just beside the site of the blast.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident, but over the past few months, IS has carried out similar attacks in Diyala and other parts of Iraq.

A member of the Diyala Provincial Council told the media earlier this month that there are over 1,500 active extremists participating in terrorist activities across the province.

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