Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Forces Kill 4 Terrorists in Kirkuk

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the Counter-Terrorism Service Memorial Wall in Baghdad. (Iraqi Prime Ministry)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the Counter-Terrorism Service Memorial Wall in Baghdad. (Iraqi Prime Ministry)
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Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Forces Kill 4 Terrorists in Kirkuk

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the Counter-Terrorism Service Memorial Wall in Baghdad. (Iraqi Prime Ministry)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the Counter-Terrorism Service Memorial Wall in Baghdad. (Iraqi Prime Ministry)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi inaugurated on Tuesday a memorial wall in Baghdad commemorating the sacrifices of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), the security forces’ central unit in the battles against terrorist groups led by ISIS.

Kadhimi said during the inauguration that the monument commemorates the sacrifices of the heroic CTS martyrs.

“A few hours ago, your heroic colleagues in the Counter-Terrorism Service managed to kill an entire terrorist detachment in Kirkuk that tried to attack your units,” he said.

Kadhimi was referring to a security operation described as “major” against ISIS elements in Kirkuk.

Earlier, spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Major General Yahya Rasoul, announced that the CTS managed to kill an entire ISIS unit that tried to attack security forces patrols in Kirkuk.

Rasoul said the operation was carried out according to the directives of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

The security forces carried out the operation two days after a deadly ISIS attack on a federal police outpost south of Kirkuk that killed 13 security members and injured six others.

The spokesman added that snipers of the security unit monitored the terrorists and killed a number of them, as international coalition warplanes chased the rest and managed to destroy their hideout.

Meanwhile, an official in the international coalition to help Iraq in its war against ISIS ruled out the group’s resurgence in Iraq, amid local fears it was escalating its operations against security forces and rebuilding its military capabilities.

The official military spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), Colonel Wayne Marotto, stated that ISIS terrorist gangs continue to take advantage of the security vacuum, as they are acting as a low-level insurgency compared to al-Qaeda in 2010, noting that ISIS carries out its attacks when it has the chance.

Marotto told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that Iraqi security forces and the international coalition are proactively intercepting and destroying ISIS hideouts, positions and temporary camps, drying up their financial resources and eliminating their key leaders.

“Iraqi security forces are at the forefront of the fight against ISIS.”

He confirmed that the coalition will continue to support the security forces. If the Iraqi prime minister requests the help of the coalition air force, it will support it, adding that it “has not seen any indication of the resurgence of ISIS.”

He vowed: “As long as these gangs continue to pose a clear and present threat to the security of Iraq and northeastern Syria, the coalition will continue to strike.”



How Did Iraq Survive ‘Existential Threat More Dangerous than ISIS’?

Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 
Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 
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How Did Iraq Survive ‘Existential Threat More Dangerous than ISIS’?

Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 
Iraqi sheikhs participate in a solidarity demonstration with Iran on a road leading to the Green Zone, where the US Embassy is located in Baghdad (AP). 

Diplomatic sources in Baghdad revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraqi authorities were deeply concerned about sliding into the Israeli-Iranian war, which they considered “an existential threat to Iraq even more dangerous than that posed by ISIS when it overran a third of the country’s territory.”

The sources explained that “ISIS was a foreign body that inevitably had to be expelled by the Iraqi entity, especially given the international and regional support Baghdad enjoyed in confronting it... but the war (with Israel) threatened Iraq’s unity.”

They described this “existential threat” as follows:

-When the war broke out, Baghdad received messages from Israel, conveyed via Azerbaijan and other channels, stating that Israel would carry out “harsh and painful” strikes in response to any attacks launched against it from Iraqi territory. The messages held the Iraqi authorities responsible for any such attacks originating from their soil.

-Washington shifted from the language of prior advice to direct warnings, highlighting the grave consequences that could result from any attacks carried out by Iran-aligned factions.

-Iraqi authorities feared what they described as a “disaster scenario”: that Iraqi factions would launch attacks on Israel, prompting Israel to retaliate with a wave of assassinations similar to those it conducted against Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon or Iranian generals and scientists at the start of the war.

-The sources noted that delivering painful blows to these factions would inevitably inflame the Shiite street, potentially pushing the religious authority to take a strong stance. At that point, the crisis could take on the character of a Shiite confrontation with Israel.

-This scenario raised fears that other Iraqi components would then blame the Shiite component for dragging Iraq into a war that could have been avoided. In such circumstances, the divergence in choices between the Shiite and Sunni communities could resurface, reviving the threat to Iraq’s unity.

-Another risk was the possibility that the Kurds would declare that the Iraqi government was acting as if it only represented one component, and that the country was exhausted by wars, prompting the Kurdish region to prefer distancing itself from Baghdad to avoid being drawn into unwanted conflicts.

-Mohammed Shia Al Sudani’s government acted with a mix of firmness and prudence. It informed the factions it would not tolerate any attempt to drag the country into a conflict threatening its unity, while on the other hand keeping its channels open with regional and international powers, especially the US.

-Iraqi authorities also benefited from the position of Iranian authorities, who did not encourage the factions to engage in the war but instead urged them to remain calm. Some observers believed that Iran did not want to risk its relations with Iraq after losing Syria.

-Another significant factor was the factions’ realization that the war exceeded their capabilities, especially in light of what Hezbollah faced in Lebanon and the Israeli penetrations inside Iran itself, which demonstrated that Israel possessed precise intelligence on hostile organizations and was able to reach its targets thanks to its technological superiority and these infiltrations.

-The sources indicated that despite all the pressure and efforts, “rogue groups” tried to prepare three attacks, but the authorities succeeded in thwarting them before they were carried out.

The sources estimated that Iran suffered a deep wound because Israel moved the battle onto Iranian soil and encouraged the US to target its nuclear facilities. They did not rule out another round of fighting “if Iran does not make the necessary concessions on the nuclear issue.”