The Iraqi defence troops said it had obliterated 25 camps of IS militants in a mountainous region of northern Iraq.
In a release by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service conducted an operation in the region of Makhmour. The region is some 100 km southeast of the capital city of Nineveh province, Mosul. In the operation, 18 ISI hideouts and seven tunnels were destroyed.
Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) is an independent, quasi-ministerial level institution. Sources state that it is autonomous from the Iraqi Ministry of Defense (MoD) and the Ministry of the Interior (MoI). The U.S. originally designed the organisation. It consists of a three-tiered organisational structure with the CTS headquarters, Counter Terrorism Command (CTC), and three Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) Brigades.
CTS is the central point of counter-terrorism in the Middle East and North Africa. It developed local capacity for combating insurgents and terrorists. In 2014, it prevented ISIS from advancing on Baghdad. It was a turning point in the war. CTS players were key to liberating cities such as Ramadi, Fallujah, and Mosul from ISIS control.
CTS and its operational component, Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF), have been engaged in some of the major operations against ISIS. ISOF troops were among the very first forces to enter Mosul in the offensive within the Battle of Mosul between 2016 and 2017. It was a milestone in liberating one of the biggest cities in Iraq from
ISIS. Despite being tasked beyond their original mandate as precision counterterrorism forces, they performed admirably but suffered high casualties.
The CTS has incurred heavy casualties ever since its deployment because of its wide participation in combat in various parts of Iraq. Conceived as a precision counterterrorism force, the CTS has, in most cases, been deployed as light infantry for fighting ISIS in urban warfare. Depending traditionally on U.S. assistance in intelligence and logistics, sustaining operational capabilities in the absence thereof continues to challenge the CTS.
