The Iraqi security services were able to dismantle an armed cell in Babil Governorate, linked to Iranian figures and preparing to carry out attacks outside Iraq, in a security development that comes amid accelerated government moves to confine weapons to the state and rearrange a number of security and military sites.
On Saturday evening, Al Arabiya sources in Iraq reported that the cell had been seized, while the official spokesman for the Iraqi government, Haider Al-Aboudi, revealed that the anti-terrorism forces and the Iraqi intelligence service had succeeded in penetrating and dismantling an armed network that was planning to carry out attacks by drone on specific targets.
Al-Aboudi said, in a television interview, “On Friday night, the Counter-Terrorism Service and the Intelligence Service were able to penetrate an armed network that was planning to carry out operations against specific targets, and it was in possession of equipment, tools, and drones. Its members were arrested during the deployment of the Iraqi armed forces, and they are now under investigation.”
He added: “We are currently investigating a cell that has drones, and the operation was aborted.”
In parallel, Al-Aboudi said that “there is a direct dialogue led by the Iraqi Prime Minister with the armed factions,” stressing that “after next September 30, the requirements for the presence of armed factions in Iraq will end, and the file of arms control is an exclusive Iraqi national file in the hands of the government.”
This development comes at a sensitive and accelerating regional time, coinciding with government preparations to confine arms to the state, while Baghdad is rearranging the map of its security and military leadership through a series of changes that included the Ministries of Interior and Defense, in addition to the leadership of divisions and operations, including the Basra Operations Command, in a governorate with exceptional strategic and security weight.
In a separate context, Al Arabiya reported that Iraqi security forces in Baghdad arrested former Salah al-Din Governor Ahmed al-Jubouri, known as “Abu Mazen,” on corruption charges.
Al-Jubouri assumed the position of Governor of Saladin between 2013 and 2014. He also served as Minister of State for Governorate Affairs between 2014 and 2015, and currently holds the position of Secretary-General of the National Masses Party in Iraq.
Al-Arabiya sources also reported the arrest of businessman Muhammad Al-Hajf against the backdrop of major corruption files in Salah al-Din Governorate.
