Iraqi forces arrest 22 in Mosul security operation

By Serhad Shaker

NINEVEH, Iraq

Iraqi forces rounded up 22 people during a security swoop in the northern city of Mosul on Monday, according to the Defense Ministry.

In a statement, ministry spokesman Bri. Gen. Yahya Rasoul said the suspects were arrested in Badoush district, some 30 kilometers north-west of Mosul.

He said security forces had defused ten improvised explosive devices and destroyed a tunnel used by militants during the operation.

Thousands of people have been arrested by Iraqi forces for suspected Daesh links since the terrorist group was driven from Mosul -- its primary stronghold -- late last year.

Last December, officials in Baghdad declared that Daesh's military presence in the country had been all but dismantled following a three-year war.

Iraqi security forces, however, still sporadically mount operations against what they describe as Daesh “sleeper cells”.