Iraq's National Intelligence Service announced Monday in an X post that it has dismantled a major international financing network linked to the Islamic State.

The network, responsible for smuggling operatives across borders and funding terrorist activities, was tracked and shut down in multiple West African countries.

The agency said the operation, overseen by the Supreme Judicial Council, followed months of monitoring communications between the network and ISIS affiliates inside and outside Iraq. Officials noted the arrests aimed to disrupt plots targeting European countries and Iraq's interests abroad.

The operation builds on a 2023 raid in Kirkuk that targeted another ISIS-linked financing cell. The intelligence service pledged to continue pursuing remaining elements of the group to safeguard Iraq's national security.

The National Intelligence Service, through a cross-border effort under the supervision of the Supreme Judicial Council, has succeeded in apprehending a major financing network for the terrorist ISIS entity, responsible for smuggling terrorists between several countries on behalf of the entity.

This operation comes as a continuation of an operation carried out by the National Intelligence Service in 2023 in Kirkuk Governorate, which targeted one of the networks affiliated with the terrorist entity responsible for financing its cells.

The arrest operation was executed in several West African countries after monitoring movements and communication lines between this network and other networks inside and outside Iraq, aimed at supporting ISIS' financial structure and planning terrorist attacks targeting European countries and Iraq's interests abroad.

Newsmax writer Eric Mack contributed to this report.

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