In Iraq, Daesh returns to insurgent tactics
Group has stepped up its attacks ahead of elections in May
On a desolate highway in northern Iraq last week, nine federal police officers packed into a large SUV were stopped at a checkpoint they had never seen before.
Men dressed as Shiite paramilitaries asked the policemen to hand over their IDs and weapons for inspection, and then took them hostage.
They would not be seen again until days later, when photos circulated on social media showed them being forced to kneel before being shot dead by their captors.
Daesh claimed the killings. Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December after driving the militants from the last territory under their control, but in recent months the group has resumed insurgent-style attacks in northern Iraq.
Iraqi security officials say between 150 and 200 members of the security forces have been killed in Daesh attacks across the country in the past few months.
Over the past week alone, Daesh has claimed responsibility for six attacks at fake checkpoints, including one that destroyed oil tankers and another targeting Shiite pilgrims.
Other attacks have included strikes on oil installations and convoys, with Daesh claiming to have captured weapons and vehicles.
The attacks have focused on rural targets and have increased ahead of elections planned for May.
They are in keeping with Daesh documents uncovered by intelligence officials months ago that detailed plans for an insurgent campaign on the heels of the group’s territorial defeat, according to one of the security officials, who works in the government’s anti-terrorism intelligence department.
The fight’s not over
A Baghdad-based security official said Daesh fighters are able to move with greater freedom through rural areas and the open deserts in northern Iraq since the US-led coalition began reducing its military footprint earlier this year.
With fewer coalition troops on the ground, Iraqi forces are not getting the large amounts of intelligence they did at the height of the fight against Daesh, and coalition surveillance has also been scaled back, the official said.
“Right now it’s a tactical fight. Daesh has been defeated militarily, but the fight for security is not yet over,” the official said.
Since the end of major combat operations in Iraq, the US-led coalition has “shifted” air assets to Syria and Afghanistan, coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said.
But he said the coalition is continuing to support Iraqi operations, and is allocating resources accordingly.
“We already know Daesh feeds off of instability and sectarian divides,” he said. “For them to conduct attacks in that
Daesh fighters are able to move with greater freedom through rural areas and the open deserts in northern Iraq since the USled coalition began reducing its military footprint earlier this year.
area where there are already tensions is not strange.”
The attacks show how easily Daesh is able to return to their insurgent roots said Michael Knights, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy.
“Daesh has returned to its 2013 tactics without missing a beat.”