ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the international coalition, and the US government is well aware that remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) continue to pose a threat, and they are taking actions to counter the extremists after the group was declared militarily defeated three weeks ago.
“This issue is not as easy as discussed. Daesh sleeper cells did not emerge as a surprise but have been present for a while, conducting terror actions in different places inside Syria and even Iraq. The matter has been monitored up by security forces," Kino Gabriel, the SDF spokesperson, told Rudaw on Thursday night.
While it's too early to tell if the extremists will attempt to re-establish a "caliphate," their methodology continues.
"There are groups who attempt to target people who oppose their policy or program,” Gabriel added.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesperson Kino Gabriel speaks to Rudaw from northeastern Syria during a television program on April 11, 2019.
The SDF declared the “total elimination” of the self-proclaimed caliphate on March 23 after more than four years of conflict.
However, they arrested 63 sleeper cells in Raqqa in February for spreading “fear, chaos, causing sedition, and anxiety” among the local population.
“Daesh and terror have militarily ended. These forces want to operate in another form, seeking retaliation, and as they say they want to return to their previous work," Kanan Barakat, a co-chair of Jazira Canton Council, told Rudaw on Thursday.
The sleeper cells in Syria are mostly located in regions where the militants escaped, disguised as civilians — east of the Euphrates River, areas previously liberated by the SDF.
Gabriel claimed ISIS has been collaborating with other entities.
“It is not only Daesh but also other groups outside Daesh who try to harm the stability of the region,” he said.
Mustafa Bali, the head of the SDF Press Office, tweeted in late March: “ISIS still has a strong presence among society in the area and this can only be countered by an effective military cooperation between the SDF and global coalition.”
1 SDF fighter was martyred by ISIS VBIED attack in Deir al-Zour yesterday. ISIS still has a strong presence among society in the area and this can only be countered by an effective military cooperation between the SDF and global @coalition.
— Mustafa Bali (@mustefabali) March 30, 2019
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testified to Congress on Wednesday that there is a possibility of a reoccurrence of "Sunni terror" in both countries.
"Both in Syria and Iraq, we have State Department teams often with the military on the ground working to see if there are ways we can get the global community to underwrite stabilization and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, so there's a less likelihood that we'll get the next variant of Sunni terror in Anbar and in the west of Iraq," he told the legislature.
There have been calls by Iraqi politicians and Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for Baghdad to disallow a US troop presence in Iraq because of the declared military defeat of ISIS.
However, Iraqi PM Adil-Abdul Mahdi, as recently as Thursday, has continued to order counter-ISIS operations in coordination with the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
Iraqi President Barham Salih told AP he does not see any “serious” opposition to the continued presence of US forces in Iraq.
"The Iraqi government is in full support of this. With the Iraqi Security Forces, our military works closely with them to build out security institutions so that the risk of the next variant of Sunni extremism, Sunni terrorism doesn't march on Baghdad, doesn't march on Erbil again," Pompeo added during his testimony in Washington, D.C.
Even prior to former Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi declaring ISIS defeated in the country in December 2017, authorities in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have maintained the group will not be defeated so long as its ideology persists.
KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani met with Deputy Chief of Mission for the US Embassy in Iraq Joey Hood and USAID Special Representative for Minority Assistance Programs Max Primorac on Thursday.
In addition to humanitarian and economic issues, they discussed "threats of reemergence of terrorism in some areas to be addressed by joint coordination between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad," according to Barzani's office.
Barzani, who is serving as prime minister until a new government is formed, has been tapped by his party to become the next president of the Kurdistan Region. Previously, the president has been the commander-in-chief of all security forces in the region.
The Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga, security, and intelligence agencies have worked closely with the US-led coalition in the fight against the extremists.
Head of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) Masrour Barzani met with UK Defence Senior Adviser on the Middle East Lt. Gen. Sir John Lorimer on April 4.
"Chancellor Barzani and Sir Lorimer agreed that despite the territorial defeat of ISIS, the terrorist group remains a threat. They both underscored the importance of joint security mechanisms between Peshmerga Forces and Iraqi Security Forces in the disputed territories," read a statement from the KRSC.
KRSC head Masrour Barzani (right) receives UK’s Defence Senior Adviser on the Middle East Lt. Gen. Sir John Lorimer in Erbil, Kurdistan Region, on April 7, 2019. Photo: KRSC Press
Masrour Barzani has been tapped by the Kurdistan Democratic Party to become the prime minister of the KRG in the new government.
On Thursday, US-trained elite Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Forces (ICTS) with air support from the international coalition targeted an ISIS media hideout in the Hamrin Mountains — a disputed or Kurdistani area claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad.
In the operation, “The headquarters of al-Naba newspaper – affiliated with terrorist ISIS gangs – was destroyed and a number of issues of the newspaper as well as printers, computers, and significant documents were found,” the ICTS announced Thursday evening.
ISIS remnants have continued to operate in what's been described as a security vacuum between Iraqi and Peshmerga forces, primarily in the northern Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, and Saladin provinces.
"Coalition operations will continue to target Daesh’s capacity to reemerge, which includes targeting its financial, explosive-manufacturing, communication, recruiting, planning, training and smuggling activities," US Army Col. Scott Rawlinson told Rudaw English on Friday.
He also touched on the ideological war that locals see lingering.
"We must also help populations vulnerable to Daesh ideology understand that everything they are selling is a lie that only leads to death and misery," Rawlinson added.
The United States had at least 2,000 forces in Syria advising, assisting, and training the SDF in their fight against ISIS. The US military says it has around 5,000 forces in Iraq.
The roles of militaries and diplomats in Iraq and Syria will be vital, as countries like the United States request funds for Fiscal Year 2020.
A 150-person strong French artillery group that was deployed on the Iraq-Syria border began withdrawing on April 7 because it "has completed its mission.”
“The Wagram Task Force has completed its mission conducted as part of the international anti-IS coalition,” said French Col. Patrik Steiger at a press briefing.
