Iraq targets lingering ISIS pockets with airstrikes, operations in security vacuum after US pullout

In the wake of the US withdrawal from Iraq on September 30, the Iraqi government has increased airstrikes and operations against ISIS. This comes as ISIS may seize the opportunity to mount a comeback. However, ISIS is severely weakened and now consists mainly of scattered cells in rural areas. Iraq appears to be trying to send a message that it will not allow ISIS to exploit the situation.

ISIS rose in Iraq in 2014 during a time of sectarian tension and chaos. The US had left Iraq in 2011. Under prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq was not a strong state. Maliki, who was very pro-Iran, was seen as an abusive prime minister by Iraqi Sunnis. The large Arab cities resented his rule.

When ISIS appeared as an alternative, sweeping into Iraq from Syria, many people backed it in places such as Mosul, Ramadi, and Fallujah. ISIS was able to defeat two Iraqi army divisions and take most of the equipment from the depots of the units. This gave it significant strength.

Today ISIS doesn’t have this kind of strength or any of the influence that gave it power in the past. It consists of aging fighters or a few young recruits, and it is scattered in various areas. However, some pockets have never been defeated. One of those pockets is in the Hamrin mountains and areas near Hawija.

Some of these cells have connections further north in the area of Mount Qarachokh, where ISIS has exploited the vacuum in power between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi federal forces.

On October 11, Iraq’s Security Media Cell, which posts official statements on the Iraqi security forces, said that it had carried out strikes on ISIS.

It said that “based on intensive field monitoring to track terrorist elements, and relying on precise and confirmed intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate, and in joint coordination with the Aerial Reconnaissance and Surveillance Center in the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, F-16 aircraft carried out two airstrikes targeting a hideout belonging to remnants of Daesh elements in the Nareen area within the Diyala Operations Command sector, resulting in its complete destruction.”

The statement didn’t name ISIS, but it was clear this was the target.

Iraq is worried about ISIS activity west of Kirkuk. It sent Brigadier General Abdul Amir Al-Shammari, Director of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, to chair a meeting with the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Operations and the Commander of Kirkuk Operations.

‘The Director of the Office listened to a detailed briefing from the commanders regarding the plans for the deployment of units and their openness within the sector of responsibility of the Kirkuk Operations Command,' Iraq’s Security Media Cell said.

“The meeting witnessed in-depth discussions regarding the enhancement of security measures and the securing of borders and villages within the sector, and the attendees concluded with a number of important recommendations that emphasized the importance of intensifying intelligence efforts and coordinating efforts among the various security units to ensure security stability and protect citizens in the province.”

Further reports discussed the threat of ISIS in Iraq. Shafaq News noted that “ISIS militants struck the same village in Kirkuk's Hawija district twice in less than 24 hours, and both times they went after the cameras. The attacks disabled thermal imaging equipment that Iraqi forces use to watch open farmland and valleys at night. They have also renewed attention on stretches of northern Iraq that local commanders concede are not fully covered.”

It also noted how Hawija, west of Kirkuk, has been an ISIS hotbed for years. During the war on ISIS, there was a line of hills overlooking the valley near Hawija. The Kurdish Peshmerga held this line at the time. During most of the war, the Peshmerga looked down on the ISIS-held areas in the desert around Hawija. It remained an ISIS holdout until October 2017, when the Iraqi federal government finally conquered it.

Shafaq says that “on the evening of October 5, militants attacked a position held by the 3rd Battalion of the Federal Police's 9th Brigade in al-Bargliya, in Hawija's al-Danadish sector. One officer was killed, four were wounded, and several thermal cameras at the site were destroyed.”

Meanwhile, Arab Weekly noted that “Iraqi security forces carried out an airborne assault on six suspected Islamic State hideouts in Kirkuk province on Monday, highlighting Baghdad’s continuing campaign to eliminate the group’s remaining cells nearly nine years after declaring victory over the militants.” Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said they had sent forces by helicopter into Zghaitun.

Rudaw, a Kurdish media outlet, wrote that “Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out two airstrikes targeting an alleged Islamic State (ISIS) hideout in Diyala province late Sunday, destroying the site as concerns grow over the group’s movements in areas where security gaps persist between Iraqi forces and Kurdish Peshmerga.”

Meanwhile, in nearby Kirkuk, a meeting is underway as candidates seek the governor's office. Several Turkmen candidates are running, according to Shafaq.

In another development, Shafaq noted that “Iraqi Oil Minister Basim Mohammed Khudair is heading to Saudi Arabia to prepare for Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi’s upcoming visit, with discussions expected to focus on reviving a long-idle oil pipeline linking Iraq to the Saudi Red Sea port of Yanbu, a government source told Shafaq News on Monday.”

This matters because the pipeline runs from the Zubair oilfield in Iraq’s southern Basra province to Yanbu. This was built in the 1980s.

“Operations ceased in 1990 following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, while Saudi Arabia repurposed sections on its territory in 2001 to connect with its East-West pipeline, which provides an alternative export route bypassing the Strait of Hormuz,” Shafaq added.