ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said late on Friday that the country’s security forces have yet to encounter “real resistance” from Islamic State (ISIS) fighters in recent nationwide operations to eradicate the group’s remnants.
“The third phase of the Operation Will of Victory continues. So far, we have not encountered real resistance from Daesh [Arabic acronym for ISIS] in areas described by some media outlets and foreign people as dangerous areas,” Abdul-Mahdi told a select group of journalists in Baghdad.
Iraqi security forces have been “getting great results,” he added.
Now in its third phase, Iraqi security forces launched Operation Will of Victory on July 7.
A group of domestic forces have collaborated in the operations, including Baghdad Operations Command, federal police, the army, intelligence services, Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF), and counter terrorism and Iraq’s air force, with additional support from the US-led international coalition.
Abdul-Mahdi himself oversaw the commencement of the operation’s second phase on July 20 when in northern Baghdad.
In a Friday statement, Iraqi Security Media Cell detailed third phase operation updates, including the clearance of 25 villages in Diyala, 25 US-led coalition airstrikes, 38 Iraqi air force operations, the destruction of tunnels and dens, and the seizure of IEDs and mortar rounds.
The prime minister’s comments come five years after international operations against ISIS began.
Seizing vast areas of northern Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014, ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017. However, its remnants and sleeper cells have remained active, returning to earlier insurgency tactics, including the ambushes, kidnappings and killings of civilians and officials, bombings and arson.
Their resurgence has been most marked in areas disputed by Erbil and Baghdad, where contention over control of territory has created exploitable security vacuums. Operation Will of Victory seeks to clear these areas, including the provinces of Anbar, Baghdad, Diyala, Nineveh and Saladin provinces, of the group’s remnants.
According to the US Secretary of Defense’s Lead Inspector General report to US Congress published on Friday, “ISIS is rebuilding in remote territory, which is hard for Iraqi forces to secure,” and is “able to recruit in these areas [Iraq’s northern and western provinces] using family and tribal connections,” it warned.
"We have repeatedly said that the fight against Daesh will be a long one. No one said it would be short,” Abdul-Mahdi said in recognition of the lengthy battle against ISIS.
“However, we have made big achievements gains Daesh. They do not have fighting bases, except for some checkpoints here and there, but they are not considerable,” Abdul-Mahdi added.
Saad Maan, spokesperson for the Iraqi Interior Ministry, said late on Friday that Iraqi forces made arrests at three ISIS sleeper cells in Mosul. However, he did not clarify whether or not the arrests formed part of Will of Victory operations.
Parallel operations against ISIS targets are ongoing, including Operation New Dawn in the province of Kirkuk, while Kurdish Peshmerga forces conducted operations in Diyala on Monday morning, days after militants killed four Kurdish security personnel in the area.
Updated 11:40am, August 10. Additional reporting by Lawk Ghafuri.
