Peshmerga leader says ISIS cells bombed 28 times near Makhmour

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - General Sirwan Barzani, the Peshmerga Commander at the Gwer-Makhmour front line, said on Thursday that Islamic State group cells in Iraq were attacked more than two dozen times in operations over the past day.

The commander said that the US-led Coalition in coordination with the Peshmerga and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) had bombed the group 28 times since Wednesday night. 

"So far 10 different cells have been targeted. Such operations are set to continue until all terrorists are neutralized," he added.

In an operation conducted by CJSOTF-OIR in coordination with #Peshmerga & Iraqi Army, #ISIS cells have been bombed 28 times since last night. So far 10 different cells have been targeted. Such operations are set to continue until all terrorists are neutralised. pic.twitter.com/gGUzMawghf

— Sirwan Barzani (@SirwanBarzani_) March 11, 2021

Yehia Rasool, the military spokesperson for Iraq’s Commander-in-Chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi, tweeted on Tuesday that Iraqi air forces targeted Islamic State militants in the Hamrin Mountains in the Diyala province.

Following the emergence of the Islamic State in 2014, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces held their front lines in the areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, preventing sleeper cells from entering their territory despite the terrorist organization controlling adjacent land.

Security in those regions, however, significantly deteriorated after Iraqi forces and Iran-backed Shia militias overran Kirkuk and other disputed territories and drove Kurdish forces out in response to the Kurdistan Region’s September 2017 independence referendum.

On Oct. 17, 2017, the day after Iraqi forces took over Kirkuk, Peshmerga forces withdrew from Makhmour and Gwer, both south of Erbil.

After the Iran-backed militias entered Makhmour, Islamic State fighters returned nearby, and still threaten local villagers and farmers, more than three years after the federal government in Baghdad declared a military victory over the group in late 2017.

In response to the Islamic State threats, Peshmerga forces and Iraqi troops, backed by US-led Coalition airpower, have launched several military operations to eliminate sleeper cells hiding in areas surrounding Mount Qarachukh.

A recent Pentagon Inspector General report covering the last quarter of 2020 cited the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as suggesting that Islamic State’s “exploitation of the security seams between areas of ISF and Peshmerga control remains a problem.”

The report said the group is trying to exploit gaps in security coverage along a demarcation line that separates territory administered by Iraq’s central government from that governed by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Despite initiatives to create joint “ISF and Peshmerga structures and operations to secure the territory, there has been little progress on implementing joint operations,” the report added.

The Pentagon watchdog noted that the inability to secure disputed territories is one of the “several concerning dynamics in the country.”

“The patchwork of security forces operating across Iraq, the economic crisis in the country, and sectarian divides in some communities allow the ISIS insurgency to persist. Effectively degrading the ISIS insurgency will require political, economic, and social improvements in Iraq that will likely take years to fully develop,” the report concluded.

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly