Iraq launches ‘Will of Victory’ operation against ISIS sleeper cells

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi security forces have launched a new operation, backed by international coalition airpower, targeting Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells in the areas between Mosul, Anbar, and Saladin, military officials announced Sunday.

The areas have seen a recent uptick in insurgent activity, including bombings, ambushes, kidnapping, extortion, and arson.

The operation, named ‘Will of Victory’, was declared by Iraq’s Security Media Cell on Sunday morning.

In a statement, Lieutenant General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah, deputy head of Iraqi joint operations, said: “We announce the start of the Will of Victory military operation this morning on July, 7 2019 to defeat ISIS sleeper cells in the areas around Saladin, Mosul, and Anbar on the Iraqi-Syrian border.”

The operation will be conducted by Iraqi army units, large units of Hashd al-Shaabi and Sunni tribal fighters known as Hashd al-Ahsairi, and be accompanied by both Iraqi and coalition warplanes, he said.

“The operation will take several days.”

Rudaw English has contacted the US-led coalition to confirm its involvement in the operation, but is yet to receive a reply.

Iraqi Prime Minster Adil Abdul-Mahdi also released an official statement on Sunday praising the role of the Iraqi army in the fight against ISIS.

“Today we announce the [Will of Victory] operation to defeat ISIS sleeper cells in Iraq as we have always done, our Iraqi army heroes will come back victorious for sure and add more victories to their record that will be written in golden words. I wish you all the success and prayers of all Iraqis are with you.” Abdul-Mahdi said, according to a statement published by the Security Media Cell.

On May 29, the UK Ambassador to Iraq John Wilks released a short video statement urging the Iraqi government to act against the frequent attacks launched by ISIS remnants and sleeper cells in remote and disputed areas of Iraq. 

Wilks urged Iraqi officials “to not lose the focus on Daesh because Daesh is still a threat to the stability and security of Iraq," using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.

In his statement on Sunday, Yarallah said the Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitias will play an essential role in the Will of Victory operation.

Following a decree last week, Abdul-Mahdi announced Hashd units were to begin a process of full integration into the Iraqi security forces.

Since their creation in 2014 in response to the advance of ISIS on Baghdad, the predominantly Shiite force with ties to Iran has largely operated independently of the state.

The Iraqi government announced the territorial defeat of ISIS in December 2017. However, remnants of the group have returned to earlier insurgency tactics, ambushing security forces, kidnapping and executing suspected informants, and extorting money from vulnerable rural populations.

ISIS militants swept across northern Iraq in the summer of 2014, seizing control of several large Sunni-majority cities.

Baghdad called on the international community to form a coalition against ISIS in Iraq. At the height of its power between 2014 and 2016, ISIS controlled an area roughly the size of Great Britain, spread across both Iraq and Syria.