ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi security forces have launched a new operation targeting the Islamic State (ISIS) group’s sleeper cells in areas of Anbar province bordering Syria and Jordan, military officials announced early Wednesday. It will not include the US-led coalition or the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
The areas have seen a recent uptick in insurgent activity, including bombings, ambushes, kidnapping, extortion, and arson.
The operation, dubbed “The Heroes of Iraq”, was declared by Iraq’s Security Media Cell on Wednesday morning.
In a statement, Lieutenant General Abdul Ameer Rasheed Yarallah, deputy head of Iraqi joint operations, said: “Under the guidance of the Commander-in-Chief and the supervision of the Joint Operations Command, we announce the start of the Heroes of Iraq military operation this morning on February 12, 2020 to defeat ISIS sleeper cells in the areas of Anbar province on the Iraqi-Syrian-Jordanian border.”
The operation will be conducted by several branches of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), including Border Patrol Units, Anbar Operation Command, Baghdad Operation Command, and Al-Jazeera Operation Command, and will be covered by Iraqi Air Force jets.
“For the first time, the air defense units will be participating in an anti-ISIS operation to clear the sky for the Iraqi jets to conduct airstrikes against ISIS targets,” the statement said.
The operation aims to clear 26,238 square kilometers of ISIS remnants in the west of the country.
Major Colonel Tahsin al-Khafaji, spokesperson of Joint Operations Command, told state media agency INA: “The US-led coalition is not part of the Heroes of Iraq anti-ISIS operation, and only the Iraqi Air Force will assist the ground troops with airstrikes support.”
Anti-ISIS operations involving US forces have been put on hold since the recent spate of rocket attacks on US personnel and infrastructure in Iraq by pro-Iran militias.
Many Shiite Iraqis are calling for a full US withdrawal from Iraq after Washington was seen as having overstepped the parameters of its anti-ISIS mandate when it targeted the bases of Iran-backed militias and assassinated a top PMF commander alongside Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad airport in January.
The Iraqi Army was accompanied by the US-led coalition and the Iran-backed PMF, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, in several anti-ISIS operations in western and northern parts of Iraq over the past two years. The most recent operation, “Will of Victory”, was composed of eight phases.
Observers fear a hasty US withdrawal could allow ISIS space to regroup.
The PMF, which has played a central role in operations to defeat ISIS in Iraq since 2014, and participated in almost all mop-up operations since the group’s territorial defeat in Iraq in 2017, has also been excluded from the Heroes of Iraq operation.
Since the PMF’s 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.
Several attempts have been made to fully integrate the PMFs into Iraq’s formal security apparatus to professionalize the armed forces, reduce Iran’s influence, and reduce the likelihood of a proxy war between Iran and the US spilling over on Iraqi territory.
Launching an operation without the coalition or PMF support could be interpreted as Iraq demonstrating its sovereignty and its improved capabilities.
Although the Iraqi government announced the territorial defeat of ISIS in December 2017, 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 seized vast swathes of Syria and northern Iraq in the summer of 2014, including Mosul and other large Sunni-majority cities.
Baghdad called on the international community to form a coalition to fight 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.
The latest Pentagon Inspector General report, covering October 1 to December 31, said ISIS remnants are still active, capable of conducting small-scale attacks, and enjoy freedom of movement in Iraq’s isolated mountains and deserts.
“ISIS maintained both freedom of movement and the ability to hide and transport fighters and materiel in rural areas where [the Iraqi Security Forces] presence is less intense and ISIS can more easily avoid detection and capture,” the Lead Inspector General report said.
“ISIS retains enough manpower and planning capabilities to conduct regular small-scale attacks or ambushes against the ISF, the PMF, or local civilians accused of aiding the ISF or informing on ISIS activities.”
