By Anas al-Bar | 2025-01-09

Iraqi forces have shattered the command structure and operational network of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) nationwide, leaving the group without secure bases or effective leadership, military officials said.

Iraqi forces killed seven ISIS fighters in an air strike in Diyala province's Hamreen hills during a late December operation conducted under the direct supervision of Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) chief Karim al-Tamimi.

In coordination with the Joint Operations Command (JOC), CTS units later demolished 20 hideouts, along with three caves and five tunnels, during search and clearing missions.

In a separate operation with the Falcons Intelligence Cell, CTS forces seized explosive materials along the Salaheddine-Diyala border and destroyed five militant hideouts in Anbar province.

The counterterrorism push is part of a coordinated campaign, supported by multi-agency intelligence, involving CTS units, the army and air force, the CTS said in a 30 December statement.

Operations have targeted ISIS cells and hideouts in desert and mountain regions and throughout the country.

Between December 30 and January 6, Iraqi and US forces conducted multiple strikes on known ISIS locations in the Hamreen hills "to disrupt and degrade ISIS's ability to plan, organize and conduct attacks," the US military said.

Counterterror success

Iraq's intelligence and security agencies are working together to gather accurate information about the movement of extremist elements, Security Media Cell head and JOC spokesman Maj. Gen. Tahsin al-Khafaji told Al-Fassel.

Intelligence is processed through the Joint Targeting Cell, which coordinates air strikes and ground sweeps, he said.

Multiple air strikes and eight major ground operations conducted in 2024 resulted in more than 165 ISIS casualties, including high-ranking leaders, he said, and the destruction of more than 100 hideouts across deserts, valleys and highlands.

"The terrorists believed their hiding places were impenetrable," al-Khafaji said, noting that Iraqi forces possess "sufficient intelligence and military capabilities" to track and neutralize these threats to national security.

Iraq's success, supported by the international coalition, has prevented ISIS from regaining territory while dismantling its networks and resources.

ISIS has lost its leadership, funding sources and crucial local support, with communities actively assisting security forces with intelligence, security expert Fadel Abu Raghif told Al-Fassel.

The group's organizational structure has fallen apart, he said, as evidenced by its "inability to release any visual propaganda to boost the collapsed morale of its remaining members."

Iraqi forces maintain round-the-clock surveillance of ISIS remnants in key regions, including al-Qadhaf desert, Hauran valley, the Hamreen hills, al-Jazeera, Badush highlands, al-Shay valley, Zghaytun and al-Hawija.

"ISIS fighters have lost all their safe havens there and are now being eliminated and struck within their secret strongholds," Abu Raghif said.