Iraq
The Iraqi army and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) in an anti-ISIS operation in Anbar on November 17, 2024. Photo: INA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s interior ministry on Saturday said that 11 officers are set to stand trial after discovering that they allegedly provided national identification cards to Islamic State (ISIS) members in Anbar province when the group controlled the area.
“Violations were discovered in the registration of some cases and their exploitation in granting national IDs to ISIS terrorist gangs during the period of their control over courts and health departments,” the ministry said in a statement, and 11 officers were referred to court.
The cards were issued in Anbar’s al-Qaim district, which borders Syria, and the ministry asserted that the IDs were revoked.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in a brazen offensive in 2014, declaring a so-called “caliphate.”
The group was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017, but it continued to pose security risks through hit-and-run attacks, kidnappings, and bombings, particularly in a vast stretch of land disputed between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which includes parts of Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, and Salahaddin.
The vast western Anbar province, which partly borders Syria, is a known hotspot for ISIS militants, with the jihadists continuing to operate from hideouts in the desert.
Last year, a major joint operation by the Iraqi army and US forces in Anbar killed 16 ISIS members, and the US military later said that the raid killed four ISIS leaders.
“Violations were discovered in the registration of some cases and their exploitation in granting national IDs to ISIS terrorist gangs during the period of their control over courts and health departments,” the ministry said in a statement, and 11 officers were referred to court.
The cards were issued in Anbar’s al-Qaim district, which borders Syria, and the ministry asserted that the IDs were revoked.
ISIS seized control of swathes of Iraqi land in a brazen offensive in 2014, declaring a so-called “caliphate.”
The group was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017, but it continued to pose security risks through hit-and-run attacks, kidnappings, and bombings, particularly in a vast stretch of land disputed between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which includes parts of Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala, and Salahaddin.
The vast western Anbar province, which partly borders Syria, is a known hotspot for ISIS militants, with the jihadists continuing to operate from hideouts in the desert.
Last year, a major joint operation by the Iraqi army and US forces in Anbar killed 16 ISIS members, and the US military later said that the raid killed four ISIS leaders.
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