By Anas al-Bar | 2024-07-17

A recently exposed "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) plot to poison the Baghdad water supply demonstrates both the deterrence capability of the security services and the need for continued vigilance.

Iraqi media outlets in June revealed that in a secret document, the Baghdad Operations Command warned that "ISIS gangs are plotting to dump a certain type of poison into drinking water at water filtration facilities" in the capital.

ISIS remnants "developed a certain type of poison for the purpose of harming the largest number of citizens possible," it said in the document, urging the Iraqi authorities to "take measures to thwart the enemy's plans."

These should include "enhancing the security of water filtration facilities and the installation of surveillance cameras," as well as better communication between the staff of such facilities and the security services, it added.

ISIS resorted to water contamination on several occasions after it seized control of swathes of northern Iraq in 2014, as a last-ditch tactic before its withdrawal from areas liberated by the Iraqi forces.

The group also blew up crude oil pipelines in Ninawa and Salaheddine provinces, spilling oil into the Tigris river, and dumped toxic substances such as sulfur into reservoirs and drinking water purification facilities in western Iraq.

A national security issue

Iraq's water supply is a national security issue, and as such is well protected against would-be saboteurs, security expert Safaa al-Aasam told Al-Fassel.

Groups or individuals may carry out a terrorist act of a very limited scale, but it is impossible for their threat to reach this magnitude, he said.

ISIS "is finished and has become a page of the past," al-Hurriya resident Abbas Khudair, 57, told Al-Fassel. "This threat is far beyond the group's capabilities."

"The level of terrorist threat has dropped," said Asaad Ali, 52, of Baghdad's Yarmouk district. "But ISIS's threat remains and should not be ignored."

"The group is still active and has carried out bloody attacks in various parts of the world over the past months," he said. "Security forces must implement their precautionary plans to catch the terrorists and thwart their operations."

ISIS was dealt painful blows, and there is a major security crackdown on the movement of its remnants and cells, Amal al-Janabi, 41, of Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, told Al-Fassel.

But it can't be ruled out that the group might attempt to carry out a high-profile attack to regain public attention, she said.

"The enemy is vicious, and this necessitates that the security forces continue their security campaigns and intelligence efforts," she added.