ISIS 2.0 is actually I Original SIS

Close four months after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abad's statement that the Islamic State [of Israel] The ISIS had been defeated militarily, this group was soon transformed into a terrorist network and showed no signs that it would end the campaign of attacks across northern Iraq.

“SIS no longer exists. Their flag no longer waves on Iraqi territory,” said Fared Yaseen, Iraqi ambassador to the United States. “But that does not mean that this group has disappeared. They are turning to the old tactics used by al-Qaeda before 2014. ”

As a testament to the group's rehabilitation, a series of high profile attacks occurred in recent weeks, including one in which nine federal police officials were taken as hostages at a false checkpoint and who were later executed by Islamic State fighters disguised as members of the Shiite militia. The Associated Press” also reported that between 150 and 200 members of Iraqi security forces had drowned in the attacks of Islamic State in recent months.

These attacks on security forces and civilians, often including false checkpoints, have occurred in former group strongholds in the provinces of Anbar and Kirkuk, as well as near the provinces of Mosul and Diyala a rural area in the north of the country known for its fluctuations, Periscope follows. The “is really a bad area,” said Colonel Ryan Dillon, speaker in the US-led coalition against Islamic State. “But it's a good area for people who want to hide because of the rough terrain. I SIS has been able to dig tunnels and buy weapons, ammunition, and bomb-making material. ”

The Islamic state took a large part of northern Iraq over the time it expanded in 2014. Although the Iraqi Army forced the group to withdraw from these areas in 2016 and 2017, many military men have managed to escape or to establish sleeping cells across the territory they had previously controlled.

Some pledged to continue the war: The Islamic State produced the magazine Al-Naba suggesting that the group could easily be transformed into a uprising, as happened in 2008 after the so-called large wave of US troops. Its leaders repeatedly coined the potential need for a temporary “drop into the desert to turn the fate of potassium.

This was a critical period when I The SIS is looking for emptiness and is laying the foundation for a new uprising in the future,” said Hassan Hassan, author who wrote a book on the group.

Much of this strategy has focused on combining the attempt to introduce a silent search in rural areas while attacking key political and symbolic figures linked to the Iraqi state. What they're doing right now is what the military forces would call combat patrols, said Mike Knights. “They are dominate anyone's land outside the settlements and cities. ”

The goal, according to Knights, is to attack security forces in villages and cities, allowing the Islamic State more freedom of movement across them. Iraqi Security forces have already spread widely across the country, but they will find it hard to maintain since it costs them more and more expensive to move beyond highly fortified checkpoints.

Although still aspiring, these efforts have focused on the hardline from the north of Sirica to Diyala. “And we have fragments of I SIS or remains of I SIS mostly in Makhmur, Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatou is a kind of diagonal line where we can find these clips,” said at a press conference last week Andrew Croft, a US Brigadier General.

But since the rebel activity of the Islamic State is in its beginnings, the focus is less on the turbulent bombing than it is on targeted attacks. “since I The SIS controlled the territory, they were trying to get rid of people who could be persecuted,” said Knights. “They are killing village leaders, tribal leaders, young Sahwas [an informal tribal organisation in the alliance against Islamic State], and the popular unit of mobilization. ”

A United States official called this tactic an emphasis on the quality of the attacks more than on their size.

Although the American Army has not technically classified the recent violence in Iraq as rebel since few attacks were made and few civilians were actually killed were important figures.

According to Hasan, this is the logic behind the attacks like the last one targeting federal police officers. “They have come after people of importance for the Iraqi state,” he said.

For their part, Iraqi security forces and the popular Probation Unit, along with other civil agencies, are still working to restore authority in areas that were previously controlled by the Islamic State. This has largely meant shifting the focus from training for major wars like Mosul to a more complex environment of anti-primatory campaigns.

“We don't need to train hockey weapons teams at this moment, said Eric Paon, speaker at the Department of Defence, referring to the coalition partnership with Iraqi security forces. “We were given to train local security forces that could maintain areas and stop the I uprising SIS. ”

And yet, the Iraqi Army and specialised units such as Counter-Terrorism Service have cuts in people. And without the ability to maintain a continued presence, the Iraqi government also risks losing support for those living in those areas threatened by the violence of Islamic State.

Until you see a clear winner, you can't move. You sit on the fence,” said Knights. “In rural areas, you don't see the Iraqi government still winning. ”

Taken from Foreign Policy Oh, my God.