ISIS returns, activates sleeper cells in Iraq

Amira Sherif

ISIS sleeper cells still remain and are penetrating into Iraq, as the terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the explosion that occurred in a Baghdad market, and it was confirmed by Iraqi security sources that the terrorist organization is resuming its activity in recruiting and attracting youth to its ranks in Iraq.

According to media reports, the intelligence services monitored the organization’s efforts to adapt to security developments and military operations targeting its members.

The attack on Wednesday night targeted Erbil International Airport in Kurdistan, northern Iraq, where American soldiers are stationed. It was carried out for the first time by drone, while a separate missile attack simultaneously targeted a Turkish military base in Bashiqa, located 50 km from Erbil, killing a Turkish soldier, according to the Turkish Ministry of Defense.

Militants detonated explosive devices in one of the wells of the Bay Hassan oil field in Kirkuk governorate, northern Iraq.

An Iraqi police officer said that “gunmen who are likely to be affiliated with ISIS detonated, using explosive devices (the number of which was not specified), well No. 105 in the Bay Hassan field in the district of Dibis in northwest Kirkuk,” explaining that “competent authorities are working to extinguish the fire that broke out after the bombing.”

In turn, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said that gunmen attacked two oil wells in the Bay Hassan field in the north of the country, without causing any damage or affecting production.

The ministry stated that the attack did not cause a fire or any damage and did not affect production or stop the pumping of oil.

Kirkuk governorate includes the oil wells of Bay Hassan, Bab Gurgur and Havana, which together produce more than 370,000 barrels of oil per day.

In recent months, attacks by suspected ISIS militants have increased, especially in the area between Kirkuk and Salah al-Din (north) and Diyala (east), which is known as the “Triangle of Death”.

It seems that the terrorist organization that had suffered defeat in Iraq is seeking to target the Iraqi economy by striking its main engine, which is oil.

In 2017, Iraq declared victory over ISIS by reclaiming all of its lands, which were estimated at about a third of the country’s area after ISIS invaded in the summer of 2014.

Reports indicate that ISIS has become able to organize secret cells and attract youth, similar to what happened before 2014, in an attempt to rearrange its ranks again, pointing to the existence of pockets of organization in many areas of Iraq, stressing the need to organize training and awareness sessions in order to limit the spread and return of ISIS again.

The reports indicated that despite ISIS’s exposure to major collapses in its human capabilities over the past years, it is no longer able to control an inch of Iraqi land, but it still has sleeper cells scattered in several regions, which use the method of banditry in launching attacks by relying on sniping and improvised explosive devices to target civilians and members of the security forces.

Iraqi security expert Ahmed al-Sharifi indicated that there are multinational ISIS elements inside Iraq and that influential leaders of the organization are still effective in the regional environment, explaining that the multinational ISIS elements are located in remote, uninhabited areas far from the areas monitored by security and military.

The Iraqi government also faces the threat of the militias who have recently escalated their attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan and targeted Erbil airport this week.

Germany, France, Italy, Britain and the United States condemned, in a joint statement, the attacks that took place this week in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

“Our governments will support the Iraqi government’s investigation into the attacks to ensure that those responsible are held accountable,” the statement said.

In mid-February, a violent attack targeted Erbil airport with 14 missiles that landed inside and around it, killing a foreign contractor working for the international coalition and an Iraqi citizen, in addition to wounding five American soldiers and two civilians, according to the Kurdistan region authorities.

In the past weeks, attacks targeting US and coalition forces and interests have escalated, as attacks are occurring almost daily.

Recently, Iranian media announced that a Mossad center in Iraqi Kurdistan had been targeted, but the regional government denies the presence of Israeli citizens on its territory.