Iraqi forces have arrested an "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) element accused of killing 10 members of the Albu Nimr tribe, an Anbar province official said Friday (December 7th).

"Security forces in Anbar have managed, after careful intelligence tracking operations, to arrest a dangerous ISIS member," Anbar provincial council security committee chairman Naeem al-Koud told Diyaruna.

The militant was involved in the massacres committed by ISIS against members of the Albu Nimr tribe, he said.

Between 2014 and 2015, ISIS carried out mass executions of about 700 members of the Sunni tribe of Albu Nimr because they opposed its ideology.

The largest executions took place in the city of Heet in western Anbar, where many families who belonged to the tribe live.

Al-Koud, an Albu Nimr elder, said the detained ISIS element was "responsible for eliminating 10 members" of the tribe in the massacres, adding that he has confessed to the crimes under interrogation.

ISIS attempts to disrupt security

"Security forces have gained great skill and expertise in tracking down terrorists, especially those who form secret cells that hide among civilians," said al-Koud.

"[The terrorists] think they can survive for a long period of time away from the eyes of security and intelligence forces, and escape the hands of the law," he said.

"But they cannot survive, no matter how hard they try," he added. "Their fate is to either die or be thrown behind bars."

Al-Koud warned against ISIS's attempts to disrupt security by carrying out sporadic terror attacks.

"[ISIS elements] on Thursday sent a car bomb driven by a teenage suicide bomber to be blown up in the city of Fallujah," he said.

Iraqi forces stopped the car, which was packed with some 100 kilogrammes of dangerous explosives, before its 14-year-old driver could enter the city.

"Our troops’ vigilance helped capture the driver when he arrived at the al-Muwazafin checkpoint at the western entrance to the city," al-Koud said.

In another incident last week, ISIS elements dressed in military fatigues attacked the Qanan village mukhtar's house in the city of Heet, he said.

"The assailants opened fire on the mukhtar, killing him and injuring his son, before fleeing to an unknown destination," he said.

"These terrorist attacks have led us to focus our efforts on taking down the remaining ISIS elements and hitting them in flash operations," he said.