ISIS’ Kidnapping of Security Officials Turns into Public Opinion Case in Iraq

Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) take part in a training drill at the Special Forces Academy near Baghdad's international airport on March 19, 2018, as Iraq marks the 15th anniversary of the US invasion. (Photo by AFP)
Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) take part in a training drill at the Special Forces Academy near Baghdad's international airport on March 19, 2018, as Iraq marks the 15th anniversary of the US invasion. (Photo by AFP)
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ISIS’ Kidnapping of Security Officials Turns into Public Opinion Case in Iraq

Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) take part in a training drill at the Special Forces Academy near Baghdad's international airport on March 19, 2018, as Iraq marks the 15th anniversary of the US invasion. (Photo by AFP)
Members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) take part in a training drill at the Special Forces Academy near Baghdad's international airport on March 19, 2018, as Iraq marks the 15th anniversary of the US invasion. (Photo by AFP)

The Diyala Operations Command launched Wednesday a full-scale security operation in the governorate aimed at finding six persons who disappeared last week on a road linking Baghdad to Kirkuk and whose case turned into a public opinion.

“Joint groups of Armed Forces in collaboration with the military intelligence launched wide military operations in three hubs to find the six abductees in the area of Hamrin, located between the Qura Tiba village and the Baghdad-Kirkuk road,” a statement from the Diyala Operations Command said.

The search operation came few days after ISIS terrorists released a video showing six men with their faces covered in bruises, identifying themselves as either members of the police or the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Following news about the kidnapping, the social media networks published videos showing the children of some of the six kidnapped Iraqi officials, demanding the government, the commander of the armed forces and PM Haider to act for their release.

Report spread earlier revealed that ISIS terrorists would trade the six abductees with female ISIS inmates, currently present in Iraqi prisons.

The terrorists threatened in a video that they would decapitate the abductees in three days unless the government released the female ISIS inmates.

Earlier, some reports said three of the six Iraqi people abducted by ISIS have been freed in return for ransom. However, those reports were later denied.

An Iraqi official denied on Wednesday that the government had engaged in negotiations with ISIS to secure the release of the six abductees.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat there are no negotiations, whatsoever, with this terrorist organization, which he said caused the killing of Iraqis from all sects, colors and entities.

In parallel with this operation, limited in the area of Hamrin Mountains between Diyala and Kirkuk, the Anbar Operations Command announced that ISIS tunnels were destroyed in five coalition raids in Al-Salajiyya area in western Anbar.

“The tunnels were being used as a hideout by ISIS militants,” the statement said.



Syria’s Sharaa Says Killings of Alawites Threaten Unity, Vows Justice

 Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa attends an interview with Reuters at the presidential palace, in Damascus, Syria March 10, 2025. (Reuters)
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa attends an interview with Reuters at the presidential palace, in Damascus, Syria March 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Syria’s Sharaa Says Killings of Alawites Threaten Unity, Vows Justice

 Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa attends an interview with Reuters at the presidential palace, in Damascus, Syria March 10, 2025. (Reuters)
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa attends an interview with Reuters at the presidential palace, in Damascus, Syria March 10, 2025. (Reuters)

Syria's interim President Ahmed Sharaa said mass killings of members of ousted President Bashar al-Assad's minority sect were a threat to his mission to unite the country, and promised to punish those responsible, including his own allies if necessary.

In his first interview to a global news agency, held after hundreds died in four days of clashes between Alawite Muslims and Syria's new authorities, Sharaa blamed pro-Assad groups backed by foreigners for triggering the bloodshed but acknowledged that revenge killings had followed.

"Syria is a state of law. The law will take its course on all," he told Reuters from the Damascus presidential palace, where Assad resided until Sharaa's forces toppled him on December 8, forcing the ousted ruler to flee to Moscow.

"We fought to defend the oppressed, and we won't accept that any blood be shed unjustly, or goes without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us," Sharaa said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Sharaa also said that his government had had no contacts with the United States since President Donald Trump had taken office. He repeated pleas for Washington to lift sanctions imposed in the Assad era.

He also held out the prospect of restoring relations with Moscow, Assad's backer throughout the war, which is trying to retain two major military bases in Syria.

He rejected criticism from Israel, which has captured territory in southern Syria since Assad was toppled. And he said he aimed to resolve differences with Kurds, including by meeting the head of a Kurdish-led group long backed by Washington.

While he blamed the outbreak of violence in recent days on a former military unit loyal to Assad's brother and an unspecified foreign power, he acknowledged that in response "many parties entered the Syrian coast and many violations occurred".

"It became an opportunity for revenge" for years of pent-up grievances, he said, although he said the situation had since been largely contained.

Sharaa said 200 members of the security forces had been killed in the unrest, while declining to say the overall death toll pending an investigation, which will be conducted by an independent committee announced on Sunday before his interview.

A UK-based war monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that as of Sunday night as many as 973 Alawite civilians had been killed in revenge attacks, after fighting in which more than 250 Alawite fighters and more than 230 members of the security forces had died.

'MY CHEST TIGHTENS IN THIS PALACE'

After years in the field at the helm of a guerrilla movement that broke off from Al-Qaeda, the 42-year-old son of an Arab nationalist was soft-spoken.

"To be honest, my chest tightens in this palace. I'm astonished by how much evil against society emanated from every corner," Sharaa said.

The unrest of recent days, the bloodiest since Assad was ousted, was his biggest setback as he seeks international legitimacy, to fully lift US and other Western sanctions and assert his rule over a country fractured by 14 years of war.

He quickly welcomed a stream of foreign dignitaries and, along with his close circle, has toured the region to court support. But three months in, joy at Assad's ouster has largely been replaced by concern over the formidable challenges at home.

The economy remains in tatters, large parts of the country including its oil-rich northeast, are out of state control and Israel has struck an increasingly threatening tone backed by airstrikes, incursions and seizure of territory.

Sharaa recognized the violence of the past days threatened to derail his attempt to bring Syria together.

It "will impact this path," Sharaa said, but he vowed to "rectify the situation as much as we can".

To do that, Sharaa has set up an independent committee - the first body created by him that includes Alawites - to probe the killings within 30 days and bring perpetrators to account.

A second committee was set up "to preserve civil peace and reconciliation, because blood begets more blood," he added.

Sharaa declined to answer whether foreign fighters and other allied factions or his own security forces were involved in the mass killings, saying these were matters for the investigation.

The killings have shaken to the core Syria's coastal towns and cities of Latakia, Banyas and Jableh, forcing thousands of Alawites to flee to mountainous villages or cross the border into Lebanon.

Sharaa said Assad loyalists belonging to the 4th Division of Assad's brother, Maher, and an allied foreign power had triggered the clashes on Thursday "to foment unrest and create communal discord".

He did not identify the foreign power, but pointed to "parties that had lost out from the new reality in Syria", an apparent reference to long-time Assad ally Iran, whose embassy in Damascus is still closed. Tehran has rejected any suggestion it was involved in the violence.

'OUR DOOR IS OPEN'

Sharaa said security and economic prosperity were directly tied to lifting US sanctions imposed against Assad.

"We cannot establish security in the country with sanctions still in place against us."

But there has not been any direct contact with Trump's administration in the nearly two months since he took office, amid skepticism over Sharaa's former Al-Qaeda ties.

When asked why, he said: "The Syrian file is not on US's list of priorities. You should ask this question to them. Syria's door is open."

Meanwhile, talks are ongoing with Moscow over its military presence in the two strategic Mediterranean military bases, Tartous Naval Base and Hmeimin air base.

Sharaa said Moscow and Damascus had agreed to review all former agreements, but there had not yet been enough time to get into details.

"We do not want there to be a rift between Syria and Russia, and we do not want the Russian presence in Syria to pose a danger or threat to any country in the world, and we want to preserve these deep strategic relations," he added.