Situation, Facts and Events
18.01.2023

About Daesh Activities in Iraq

In December 2022, militants of the Daesh terrorist group (banned in Russia) kept carrying out attacks in various parts of Iraq.


On December 6, Iraqi security forces carried out several operations in the governorates of Babil, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Diyala, detaining 11 Daesh fighters. In addition, they eliminated a suicide bomber and neutralized his accomplice in the governorate of Karbala, south of the country.


One serviceman was killed and another one was injured in an explosion that took place on December 7 in Salah al-Din governorate in central Iraq.


One staff member of the security forces was killed and another one injured on 12 December in an armed attack on the headquarters of the security forces in the city of Dohuk, Iraqi Kurdistan. In the ensued shootout, the attacker was killed.


On December 12, Iraqi security forces launched another operation against Daesh militants in the governorate of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad.


A blast occurred on December 14 in the Tarmiya district north of Baghdad. As a result, an officer was killed, three soldiers were injured. The explosive device detonated when the military personnel was on patrol. Another attack took place in Basra in southern Iraq, where unidentified people opened fire on a civilian vehicle, killing two people. The attackers fled.


On December 18, ten Iraqi federal policemen were killed by a bomb that was planted by extremists on the route of several police cars in the northern governorate of Kirkuk, near Al-Khuweija village. The police were ambushed by Daesh militants. After the incident in the Al-Khuweiji district, the police conducted a large-scale special operation to catch those terrorists who managed to escape.


On December 20, Daesh fighters attacked the village of Bu-Bali in Diyala governorate. The attack left at least seven people killed and five more injured.


On December 21, the Iraqi Air Force conducted an operation against Daeshj militants who had settled in the area of the city of Tal Afar in the governorate of Ninewa. As a result of the air strike, "five terrorists were eliminated, including one of the leaders of the ISIS."


On the night of December 21-22, Daesh fighters committed a terrorist attack in the vicinity of the city of Kirkuk. An explosive device was placed on the side of the road and went off when an army patrol was moving along it. Three soldiers were killed, including an officer.


On December 21 in Sulaymaniyah, the administrative center of the Sulaymaniyah governorate of the Iraqi Kurdish autonomy, an investigation was completed into the case of the establishment of the “Islamic State Emirate” in the region. During the investigation, which lasted five months, “five conspiracies were uncovered, 54 terrorists were detained, and three more were eliminated.”


Five Daesh fighters were arrested on December 22 in Sulaymaniyah governorate.


On December 23, a spokesman of the pro-Iranian Al-Hashd al-Shaabi Shia militia announced that Daesh militants tried to break through to the Yathrib region south of the city of Samarra in Salah al-Din governorate, but their attempt was thwarted. On the same day, Iraqi security forces reported the destruction of a Daesh hideout in Ninewa governorate. The security forces managed to destroy the shelter of the terrorist group and seize ammunition, explosives, medicines and food.


On December 25, Iraqi security forces arrested nine Daesh members in the governorates of Basra, Maysan, Anbar and Salah ed-Din.


On December 28, the Iraqi armed forces eliminated at least ten Daesh members in Diyala governorate. Aviation delivered several strikes on two terrorist targets. As a result of the operation, the extremists' deployment points were completely destroyed, and all the militants were killed.


On December 30, the Iraqi Air Force launched an air strike on the hideouts of Daesh militants in Diyala governorate.


According to the US Central Command, the American-led international coalition against Daesh carried out 313 military operations against militants in Iraq and Syria in 2022. Most of the operations - almost two-thirds of them – took place in Iraq. They stated that during the course of these anti-terrorist efforts in the past year, “not a single American military was killed.” It is also reported that the military of the United States and the countries of the Western coalition eliminated 686 Daesh terrorists in Iraq and Syria. At the same time, at least 220 Daesh militants were killed and 159 were detained in Iraq; in Syria, the military eliminated 466 terrorists and detained 215 more.

Source: Институт Ближнего Востока