By Anas al-Bar | 2025-07-18

Iraqi security forces have been systematically dismantling remnant "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) cells and hideouts across the country.

During the first half of this year, they killed 13 ISIS elements and arrested dozens more, also destroying 175 of the group's hideouts, according to the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS).

ISIS once controlled vast territories, establishing what it called "Ard al-Tamkeen" (land of empowerment), said security expert Fadel Abu Raghif.

The group's remnants now operate as scattered cells, which security forces have pursued relentlessly through mountainous and desert regions, he told Al-Fassel.

In a June 29 operation, security forces killed three ISIS elements who had been hiding out in the Balkana Mountains between Kirkuk and Salaheddine provinces, according to the Security Media Cell (SMC).

The dead included "the commander of the Sulayman Beg sector" and "a soldier of the Abu Musa al-Ashaari Brigade in the Kirkuk province" of ISIS, said CTS chief Lt. Gen. Karim al-Tamimi.

Security forces also arrested two extremists and seized weapons, ammunition and logistical materials, per the SMC statement.

They had set up a "well-planned ambush" after "precise intelligence" was gathered about the extremist elements and "judicial approvals were obtained," the statement said.

No safe haven

The ambush was part of a broader security strategy to end the presence of ISIS remnants, Abu Raghif said, noting that the extremist group cannot return to its former strength as its operational effectiveness has begun to wane.

The group's organizational structure and funding sources have shown "frailty" and disintegration following ongoing "elimination" operations against remnants, he said.

These remnants have fled to remote desert areas, grasslands and highlands to escape the reach of the security forces, Abu Raghif said.

They are destined for either death or arrest, he said, stressing that security forces are also focusing on ISIS supporters and sympathizers.

"ISIS incubators" must not be allowed to emerge again in Iraq, security expert Safaa al-Aasam told Al-Fassel, adding that terrorists must be denied any kind of safe haven.

Those who cooperate with ISIS elements and provide them with safe haven, money, support or logistical facilities must be pursued through security and judicial means and considered outcasts within their communities, he said.

Having experienced ISIS brutality firsthand, many communities now provide intelligence reports to security forces that serve as a "cornerstone" in maintaining security and preventing the group from regenerating itself, he said.