Shafaq News- Kirkuk

Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state-linked paramilitary umbrella, arrested a "prominent suspect" wanted by the country's judiciary in Kirkuk, the force said on Friday.

PMF security units located the suspect in Kirkuk and detained him during an operation carried out by the Investigations and Preventive Security Directorate.

The suspect was found to have ties to former ISIS members and leaders, according to initial information. Investigators also determined that his uncle had served as the group's so-called "Dijla Province" governor.

Although ISIS lost its territorial strongholds in Iraq in 2017, the group continues to operate as an insurgency in desert and rural areas, particularly in Diyala, Kirkuk, Saladin, and Al-Anbar. During the first half of 2026, the Interior Ministry recorded the dismantling of four ISIS cells, nearly 80 preemptive operations, and the issuance of 479 arrest warrants under the country's Anti-Terrorism Law.

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