"A joint task force captured the biggest IS cell in Anbar responsible for suicide attacks, planting roadside bombs and assassinating military personnel on the international highway in the western region of the country," Saad Maan, spokesman of Baghdad Operations Command, told a press conference on Monday. According to Maan, the detained extremist militants signed their confessions.

Maan said that the extremist militants were captured following the liberation of Anbar in late 2017, and that they are responsible for killing civilians from the  al-Bun Nimr tribe for refusing to join the extremist group.