Iraqi forces arrested 19 men wanted on various terrorism charges during a two-day operation in Kirkuk, the Iraqi police in Kirkuk said Tuesday (June 21st).

Joint security forces conducted a raid in several parts of southern and western Kirkuk, picking up 19 men who had arrest warrants for crimes linked to the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), said Col. Salam al-Jaff, a spokesman for the Iraqi police in Kirkuk.

Fifteen of the men were arrested with weapons and banned materials found in their possession, al-Jaff told Al-Shorfa.

In a separate incident, two ISIL elements were arrested at a rest house in the Bazayiz al-Obeid area, south of Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

Acting on intelligence information, special forces from the anti-terrorism agency raided an ISIL rest house that had been equipped to store weapons that were intended to target Baghdad, the ministry said in a statement.

"Two of the terrorists were captured and the weapons and equipment held in a room [in the house] were seized ," the statement said.