ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The number of Islamic State (ISIS) cells infiltrating the city of Kirkuk to carry out terrorist attacks has dramatically reduced as ISIS loses ground to the Peshmerga. “The Peshmerga have been very successful in stopping the cells from coming [into Kirkuk],” said Sarhad Kadir, head of Kirkuk sub-area police. The Peshmerga, police and other security agencies have all played a role in reducing the violence in Kirkuk, but the Peshmerga have been responsible for stopping militants from bringing explosives and bomb-making supplies into Kirkuk. Kadir believes that reducing the Islamic State’s territory is a significant contributing reason for this. “They have less to work with,” Kadir said simply. Though, despite the fact that ISIS has been increasingly less effective in carrying out public attacks, they did carry out thirteen in the past year. Shortly after the Islamist State swept through Iraq and Syria, seizing control of large swathes of territory in 2014, Kirkuk was subject to many terrorist attacks including public bombings and kidnappings. “ISIS had the ability to bring bombs into Kirkuk and security forces struggled to stop it,” said Kadir. But the security forces in the city have had increasing success combating the militants. Arrests of ISIS cell members have gone up and, in the last 8 months, 60 militants have been convicted and imprisoned with another over 70 cases waiting for sentencing, according to Kadir. Now that attacks such as public bombings are down, Kadir said, ISIS fighters are going after pipelines and other resource targets and Peshmerga forces are directing their attention there to combat this threat. Kadir has been involved in the fight against Islamist groups since 2003. He says that he has seen two types of fighters who form the Islamic terrorist entity. The first is the martyr, the one “who is completely brainwashed and believes he will be greeted by 72 virgins if he dies for Islam.” He is someone who completely believes in the jihadist cause and is willing to die for it. The other type is “the one who encourages the martyr.” This person usually deals more with propaganda, carries out assassinations or goes on reconnaissance missions. Within ISIS, Kadir sees the latter as usually a former member of the Baath party, the party of Iraq’s former dictator, Saddam Hussein.
