SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A senior Kurdish official said Islamic State (ISIS) has increased its activities in the disputed areas claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil.
Deputy Minister of Peshmerga Sarbast Lazgin told Voice of America that the recent killing of an ISIS senior figure should not be seen as a crippling sign for the militant group.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said on January 28 that Abu Yaser al-Issawi, who claimed to be the leader of ISIS in Iraq and its “deputy caliph” was killed.
U.S. officials confirmed that a U.S.-led Coalition airstrike eliminated Issawi near Kirkuk province.
Lazgin said in a phone interview with VOA that the militant group was already exploiting a “security vacuum” in the disputed areas.
“I don’t want to say it will have no impact,” VOA quoted Lazgin as saying, referring to Abu Yasser’s death.
“But experience has shown groups that can indoctrinate their members to a level where they are willing to blow themselves up, the demise of one person will not change much. It may have a temporary impact, but the group will soon find a new replacement,” he added.
“They now carry out operations that are larger in scale,” he was cited as saying. “They now attack military outposts and units.”
In January, Islamic State claimed responsibility for a twin suicide bombing that killed at least 32 people in a crowded Baghdad market. It was the first big suicide bombing in Iraq for three years.
Iraqi authorities said the attack was a possible sign of the group reviving after its military defeat in 2017.
Iraq declared victory over Islamic State in December 2017 but the militants have regrouped in the Hamrin mountain range which extends into the northern provinces – an area described by officials as a “triangle of death”.
Iraqi commanders have warned that the group has been regrouping in northern Iraq and relying on women to secure logistical support for their operatives in the Hamrin mountain range.
The area is caught between the jurisdictions of the Iraqi security forces and the Peshmerga forces.
VOA cited U.S. military officials as saying that the militant group “remains a serious challenge, but relentless pressure by our security partners in Iraq and Syria is preventing a reemergence of Daesh.”
They used an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
“Daesh leadership, finances and recruiting are crippled in Iraq,” VOA quoted Col. Wayne Marotto, spokesman for the global coalition against ISIS, as saying.
He did, however say, “Daesh continues to pursue an insurgency with hit-and-run tactics, assassinating, and intimidating local leaders and security forces and extending its influence in rural areas.”
“Daesh is no longer able to sustainably occupy any territory in Iraq and Syria,” he added.
