Iraq
Members of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) patrol along a concrete wall at the Iraqi-Syrian border in Al-Qaim, west of Iraq, on January 23, 2026. File photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two Islamic State (ISIS) militants detonated themselves during an operation in western Anbar province on Friday, injuring federal security personnel, Iraqi officials said.
Iraq’s National Security Service (INSS) reported that ISIS militants self-detonated as forces “besieged an [ISIS] terrorist hideout housing the so-called ‘Anbar Security Official’ and two companions.”
Qaim Mayor Turki al-Khalaf told Rudaw that the blast injured “several national security personnel.”
He said the INSS dispatched security forces from Baghdad to al-Khuseim village in Qaim in response to intelligence about explosive devices. Qaim sits on Iraq’s western border with Syria.
The incident comes amid growing concern in Iraq that ISIS is exploiting security gaps in Syria that led to ISIS prison breaks.
On Thursday, Iraqi security forces uncovered one of ISIS’s largest weapons and ammunition caches during a major security operation in western Anbar province, Ar-Rutbah mayor Imad Mashaal al-Dulaimi told Rudaw. The seized weapons included 23mm and 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns, three RPGs, a 60mm mortar, five PKM machine guns, three sniper rifles, 33 mortar shells, 11 sticky bombs, nine explosive devices and several other items, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior said in a statement.
ISIS seized control of large parts of Iraq in 2014 but was militarily defeated in 2017 after three years of intense fighting.
In mid-January, Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji warned that ISIS was taking advantage of clashes between Kurdish forces and Damascus-affiliated armed groups in Syria, during which detainees escaped from several prisons.
The Syrian government and allied armed groups took control of key detention facilities run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including al-Shaddadi prison and the al-Hol camp in Hasaka province, as well as al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa. The sites house tens of thousands of ISIS members and their family members.
Following the security lapses, the US military said up to 7,000 ISIS militants would be transferred from Syria to Iraq.
In response, Iraq has reinforced its western frontier, placing six Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) brigades, three border guard brigades, and four Iraqi army brigades on alert along the roughly 600-kilometer border with Syria.
Mushtaq Ramadan contributed to this report from Erbil.
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