BAGHDAD: Iraqi police arrested 23 Islamic State (IS) militants after they entered Mosul from the recently liberated region of Tal Afar, in the northwestern part of the country.
Nineveh police chief Wathiq al-Hamadani said on Sunday that the extremists fled the municipality of Al-Ayadiyah, the latest IS stronghold liberated by Iraqi forces on August 31, Efe news reported.
Some of the radicals infiltrated groups of displaced persons who then entered Mosul, where the militants were arrested.
Al-Hamadani said that the extremists belong to the IS but they were not armed and there were no suicide bombers among them.
Iraqi troops have managed to gain control of the Tal Afar region after more than a week of military operations and after expelling extremists from the city of Mosul on July 10.
However, IS militants still control certain areas in Iraq, including the region of Al-Hawija, about 300 km (188 miles) north of Baghdad, which is part of the border area with Syria and is a vast territory that is mostly desert, except for some populated zones along the Euphrates River, such as the Al-Qaim region.