SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish security forces have arrested members of an Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cell in Sulaimani who had planned an attack on the city’s Shiite mosque, the security department (Asayish) said Tuesday.

An Asayish statement said that the group had in their possession explosives and plans for an attack on the Shiite Husseiniya mosque on Salim Street on the religious ceremony of Ashura held every November.

The members of the cell are of Kurdish and Arab nationality.

This is the second such plot against the mosque to be foiled by the Asayish.

In May 2014 the security forces detained a Farsi-speaking suspect carrying an explosive-filled backpack who confessed to have plans to blow it up among a crowd of mourners inside the Shiite Husseiniya.

Rudaw