Can Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism unit recover from losses in Mosul?

26-12-2017

A recent report presented to US Congress on the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq revealed that Iraq has failed to rebuild its elite Counter-Terrorism Service after the battle of Mosul. This revelation shows that the unit which has spearheaded the war against terrorism throughout Iraq may have suffered such large losses that the war against terror and the desire to stabilize the country after ISIS could be threatened.

The Counter-Terrorism Service of Iraq’s Special Operations Forces (ISOF) was formed soon after the US 2003 invasion and was envisioned to be an elite unit trained to the standards of US army rangers. It was trained by the Americans and conducted anti-terror operations. Initially it was a small unit, numbering only 1,824 men in 2007 according to a study by David Witty at Brookings Center for Middle East Policy. It expanded to more than 10,000 men and sought recruits from all Iraqi communities and had rigorous training standards even when the US began to withdraw its forces in 2009. More than 1,000 of its members were Kurdish.

In 2014 it was one of the few forces that retained high morale in the face of the advance of Islamic State, fighting in Tikrit, Samarra, Baiji and at the gates of Baghdad. Under Commanders such as Lt. Gen. Abdu-Wahab al-Saadi and Maj. Gen. Fazil Barwari, the CTS gained praise as the “golden division,” holding back ISIS.

The Iraqi government decided to use the CTS as the spearhead of its battle for Mosul in October 2017. Throughout November it slogged through neighborhoods in the east of the city, suffering heavy casualties in house-to-house fighting. A vivid account of the battle was provided when CNN’s Arwa Damon embedded with a CTS convoy that was attacked by ISIS in early November.

The CTS suffered such heavily losses that the Iraqi Security Forces had to pause operations during December before a final push to take the city. The US Department of Defense Inspector General Report from December 2016 said the unit had suffered “high casualties.” Nevertheless the unit was not given much time to rest before being thrown in to the battle for west Mosul on February 19th alongside the Federal Police and the Army’s 9th Armored Division.

In April the Department of Defense reported that it had found room for improvement among US officials responsible for the Iraq Train and Equip Fund’s support of the CTS. “The assessment found that US and Coalition advisors were unable to obtain equipment and supplies needed to train recruits from the CTS warehouses in a timely manner.” The review also found that standards had fallen in training.13 out of 17 courses “lacked sufficient standards.” The training facilities also lacked enough space for live-fire training and RPG training.

When the Department of Defense released its July-September Lead Inspector General audit titled “Operation Inherent Resolve: Report to the United States Congress” it found even worse problems. “While Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) recruits also suffered heavy losses during battles against ISIS, no new recruits received training from the Coalition this quarter.” While the government of Iraq had conducted a recruiting drive, it hadn’t found the 1,000 candidates it sought. Only 600 men already in the training pipeline graduated in May. The report notes that the CTS suffered “40 percent losses during the fighting in Mosul.”

The Inspector General identified this as a key challenge. “The high casualty rate suffered by the elite CTS has put pressure on the ISF to replenish its ranks.” At the same time the report notes that Baghdad wants to transform the CTS from a combat unit, as it was used in Mosul, to counter-terror operations. The US-led coalition wants to help double the unit’s size to 20,000 men over the next three years. However the report claims each man goes through a year of training and other work before being a competent member of the CTS and only 2,000 can graduate annually.

In response to an email, the Coalition says that between July 1 and September 30 a total of 341 CTS personnel underwent some type of advanced or specialty training. In November 900 CTS troops graduated and the Coalition says there were 14,900 CTS personnel as of December 25.

Nevertheless it appears the overuse of the CTS in the battle for Mosul has damaged Iraq’s most elite fighting force. This potentially casts a shadow over attempts to stabilize Iraq after the defeat of ISIS. Retired US Lt. Gen. James Dubik told Al-Monitor’s Jack Detsch that it was questionable whether the training goal could be met. “The country probably has some thinking to do, because the CTS forces were originally envisioned to be just that, more of a special forces capacity.”

Instead they have been used as infantry units, even going so far as reportedly quelling non-violent protests by Kurdish youth in Kirkuk. During the Kirkuk crisis, Baghdad sent the CTS to secure areas from Kurdish Peshmerga, but the CTS did not play a major role in the subsequent clashes at Altun Kupri and other areas.

The Coalition has attempted to fill the gaps to replenish the unit. On December 20, Maj. Gen. Pat White tweeted that CTS members had completed an exercise in their Operator Readiness Course. According to the coalition their new goal is “stabilization” and securing Iraq now that ISIS has been forced underground and defeated. They have highlighted courses for “Mental Health Services and Disaster and Combat,” for the CTS.

According to spokesman US Col. Ryan Dillon, of the 124,000 men trained, a total of 14,000 were from the CTS since 2015. This is an addition to 22,000 Peshmerga and other members of the ISF. However if the unit suffered 40-percent casualties it appears that its strength is below the goals Baghdad has for it.

This poses a problem for Iraq since other elite units such as the ERD have also not received many new recruits, according to the 2017 audit. That could leave Iraq with gaps in preparedness to fight any kind of insurgency that might erupt in the coming year. There are many challenges ahead in Iraq, including clearing IEDs from liberated areas, resettling more than a million people who fled ISIS, and rebuilding cities and securing the border.

In addition, Baghdad and Erbil are seeking to negotiate their differences. All of this has to be done as former ISIS elements still exist. Without a large and robust CTS that transcends sectarian and ethnic disputes, the terrorists could regain a foothold.