Over the last decade, Iraq has been playing a major role in countering the menace of ISIS in the region. Recently, Iraq’s Joint Operations Command announced on 4 March 2024 the launch of a significant operation to crack down on ISIS in the al-Anbar desert west of Baghdad. In a comment, the Joint Operations command media centre expressed the operation will include units from the al-Jazira, Anbar and Karbala provinces. Forces from the Defense and Interior Ministries, Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and anti-terrorism agencies have taken part in the mission.
The statement counted that the operation was being carried out founded on intelligence information about terrorism movement in the desert region. The security units have designed their plans, which are aimed at conquering the remnants of the ISIS terrorist group and destroying their hideouts, it stressed.
PMF operations commander in the Anbar province Qassem Mosleh expressed the operation is the largest to be conducted by Iraqi forces in the western desert. It aims to conquer terrorist plots in Anbar, bolster security and stability and follow terrorist ISIS remnants, he continued in a statement. He demonstrated intelligence reports that spoke of the ISIS movement aimed at undermining security in Anbar.
The first major success of the operation was achieved on 10 March with Iraqi forces killed 10 jihadists during a procedure against Islamic State group remnants in a vast desert area northwest of Baghdad, authorities said. An Iraqi security source informed AFP the operation was “a pre-emptive measure” to thwart aggression allegedly planned for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts in the coming days.
The army declared in a statement that troops have killed “10 terrorists in the past 24 hours.”
The operation launched o across several provinces in northern and central Iraq, concerns the regular army and Hashed al-Shaabi, especially pro-Iran former paramilitaries now integrated into the Iraqi armed forces.
State media conveyed that four jihadists were killed and six on Saturday in Wadi al-Tharthar, a region that stretches between Salaheddine and Anbar provinces. The jihadist group overran enormous swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014, declaring its “caliphate” and launching a reign of terror.
It was beaten in Iraq in 2017 by Iraqi forces supported by a U.S.-led military coalition, and in 2019 lost the last territory it held in Syria to U.S.-backed Kurdish forces. But its remnants persist in carrying out deadly hit-and-run raids and ambushes, particularly from remote locations and desert hideouts.
In a report issued in January 2024, the United Nations declared IS has “between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters” across Iraq and Syria. “Iraqi forces advanced in targeting operatives and disrupting sleeper cells,” the report stated. “But the group persisted in performing periodic attacks and replenishing leadership ranks.” Last month, the US and Iraq opened talks on the destiny of the U.S.-led coalition, following a recommendation by Baghdad for a timeline for ending its mission in the country. Iraqi officials insist that IS no longer constitutes a significant threat and that the army and security forces are capable of thwarting its remnants.
