Iraq’s interior minister says ISIS threat confined

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior minister on Saturday said that the threat from the Islamic State (ISIS) has been confined and the country’s security situation is “good.”

“The security situation in Iraq is witnessing clear stability, and it is clear because of the good security situation and the interior ministry taking responsibility for the security situation,” Interior Minister Abdul-Amir al-Shammari told Rudaw’s Ziyad Ismail following the Baghdad International Forum.

“ISIS is under continuous confinement. They seize places of difficult geography, and we continue to chase them and kill them,” he added.

In its latest report on the anti-ISIS mission released earlier this month, the Pentagon said the terror group has been contained but not eliminated in Iraq: “In Iraq, due to counterterrorism pressure, the ISIS threat was largely contained, though ISIS continued to exploit security gaps between federal Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), and conducted sporadic attacks, mostly in Shia communities.”

Baghdad is currently holding talks with Washington regarding the withdrawal of the United States-led anti-ISIS coalition forces from the country, a position defended by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“Today, with the people of Iraq as witnesses, ISIS is no longer a threat to the Iraqi people," Sudani said at the time, suggesting that there is no need for coalition forces to be stationed in Iraq, thanking the international community for its assistance in combating the terror group.

Last month, Sudani presided over the first round of talks of the joint US-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC), the purpose of which is to evaluate the coalition’s future role in Iraq based on the level of ISIS threat, operational and environmental requirements, and the capabilities of Iraqi security forces.

The Iraqi government is under pressure from Shiite quarters to expel international coalition forces following a series of American strikes on state-linked Iraqi armed groups. The strikes were in retaliation for a slew of attacks on American forces in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan by Iran-backed militias angry over Washington’s support for Israel in its war on the Gaza Strip.

The Kurdish leadership have said international forces are still needed in the country to assist in combating the ISIS threat.