Iraq arrests IS member on 'intelligence-gathering mission'

Iraq's interior ministry said Sunday an Islamic State group member had been arrested in a Baghdad hotel, accusing him of carrying out intelligence-gathering missions for the Salafi-jihadist organisation.

The man, whose name was not given, was detained by "intelligence units charged with the security of tourist infrastructure", a ministry press release said.

It said he was accused of supplying the group with "personal information about members of the security forces in Nineveh province" in northern Iraq.

The man had confessed to being an IS member, it added.

IS seized swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014, declaring a "caliphate" which they ruled with brutality before their defeat in late 2017 by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led military coalition.

However, IS cells still stage sporadic attacks on the army and police, especially in rural and remote areas.

A United Nations report published in July said IS has "between 5,000 and 7,000 members across Iraq and Syria, most of whom are fighters".