Erbil-Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) has announced that it had apprehended a Daesh cell group of four members. The network has taken part in several "terrorist operations" in Kirkuk and Tuz Khormato.
KRSC broadcast a video in which the group admitted to belonging to Daesh and executing several terrorist operations.
One of the members of the cell is Tareq Hamid Mohammed Abdullah al-Zubaidi born in 1992 in Diyala governorate. Al-Zubaidi admitted that he joined Daesh years ago under the direct command of Abu Faleh.
He explained that their job required preparing explosives to target United States troops and Iraqi forces. Al-Zubaidi spoke how after Abu Faleh died, they moved to Kirkuk-Tuz and worked under the command of Abu Hasan.
According to al-Zubaidi, he along with another member named Ahmed prepared a booby-trapped car which exploded in “Iraq Paradise” restaurant while Iraqi forces were passing in the area. He also confessed that they carried out a car bombing in al-Wasiti neighborhood in Kirkuk and assassinated Fa’eq Fakhri Raghyan, muezzin of Ahel al-Sefa Mosque.
The group was arrested by Asayish forces while preparing for another attack.
Shehab Ahmed, another member of the cell, was born in 1982 in Saladin. He explained that he joined Daesh in Diyala and pledged allegiance to commander Abu Adnan. Ahmad then moved to Kirkuk and joined the group under the command of someone named Tareq.
Ahmed admitted that the first operation they executed was killing Sheikh of al-Safa Mosque. Ahmed did confess that right before they were captured by the Asayish forces they were planning to carry out a bombing using a booby-trapped motorcycle in a public place.
Third member of the group was a lawyer appointed by Daesh to help release prisoners in Kirkuk. Tabban Mohammed Khalaf Sleiman al-Jabbouri was born in 1976 in al-Hawija in Kirkuk.
He confessed to helping release two Daesh prisoners Mothaffar Mahmoud Hussein and Ibrahim Hamid Jal’oud. Two months later, Hussein and Jal’oud contacted al-Jabbouri who went to meet them in al-Hawija. Al-Jabbouri pledged allegiance to Daesh. The organization paid him $15,000 to release twenty Daesh members held in Kirkuk prison.
In the last confession, Jasem Mohammed Ziab al-Abidi admitted that he pledged to Daesh in 2015 through his father and other prisoners. Al-Abidi, born in 1994, contacted someone named Abu Mahmoud who enrolled him in military trainings. Al-Abidi stayed in contact with the prisoners. Tabban al-Jabbouri was his father’s lawyer.
By Dalshad Abdullah
Editor's note: This article has been edited from the original.
