ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Two federal police officers were killed and another two wounded in a suspected Islamic State (ISIS) attack near Daquq, south of Kirkuk, in the early hours of Monday, according to local officials. Although territorially defeated in late 2017, ISIS has resurged in recent months, exploiting security gaps in the disputed territories claimed by Erbil and Baghdad. Monday’s assault is only the latest in a series of attacks in the Daquq area attributed to the group, causing outrage among locals. “At 1am [local time] on Monday, ISIS militants attacked a base of the federal police near Ali Sara village, killing two policemen and wounding another two,” Omed Hussein, commander of the Kakais Regiment associated with Hashd al-Shaabi in Daquq, confirmed to Rudaw. The officers, newly stationed in the village to help plug security gaps, came under mortar fire, Hussein said, claiming the attackers were only repelled “with the help of Iraqi aircraft” an hour later. The Iraqi military has launched a string of operations across several provinces to quell the ISIS resurgence, including a one-day sweep of the southern Kirkuk region on August 4 dubbed “New Dawn”. The third phase of operation “Will of Victory” was launched in Diyala and Nineveh provinces on August 5 by Iraqi Security Forces backed up by Iraqi and coalition airpower. Iraqi forces searched 25 villages over a 1,702 square kilometer area in Diyala for ISIS remnants, arms caches, bomb workshops, and hideouts. They detained 18 ISIS fighters and killed four others, according to Iraq’s Security Media Cell. They also destroyed 12 tunnels and 24 hideouts and seized 42 explosive devices and six mortar rounds, it added. ISIS seized vast areas of Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014. Although Iraqi’s former prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared the group defeated in Iraq in December 2017, ISIS remnants and sleeper cells remain active, returning to their earlier insurgency tactics. Their resurgence has been particularly apparent in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, where contention over control of territory has created security vacuums open to exploitation. According to a US Department of Defense report to the US Congress published in early August, ISIS are “working to rebuild their capabilities” in Iraq and Syria. “ISIS is rebuilding in remote territory, which is hard for Iraqi forces to secure,” the report said, and is “able to recruit in these areas [Iraq’s northern and western provinces] using family and tribal connections.” On Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said Iraqi forces have yet to encounter “real resistance” from ISIS militants in recent operations.
.jpg&w=3840&q=75)