At least nine members of the federal police, including an officer, according to police sources, were killed Sunday in northern Iraq in an attack claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
This is one of the deadliest attacks carried out in recent months in Iraq, illustrating the capacity for harm retained by the jihadists, who would have between 6,000 and 10,000 active fighters in Iraq and neighboring Syria, according to a report by the UN.
IS claims responsibility for the ambush
A bomb exploded and hit the armored vehicle carrying the police on Sunday morning, before the assailants carried out “a direct attack with small arms”, near the village of Chalal al-Matar, outside the city of Kirkuk , told AFP a federal police officer who requested anonymity. The officer reported nine deaths in the ranks of the police, specifying that an assailant had also been killed. “We are looking for the others,” he said.
On Sunday evening, IS claimed responsibility for the ambush, in a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app. The jihadist group claimed that fighters attacked “a police patrol (…), set off an explosive device and then attacked them with machine guns and grenades”.
“Cowardly” attack
After a meteoric rise in power in 2014 in Iraq and neighboring Syria and the conquest of vast territories, the IS saw its self-proclaimed “caliphate” crumble under the impact of successive offensives in these two countries.
While Iraq declared its military victory against IS in 2017, jihadists remain active in several areas and continue to carry out attacks, most often against security forces. The security forces are carrying out counter-terrorism operations and regularly announcing the death of dozens of jihadists in airstrikes or raids.
Condemning a “cowardly terrorist” attack, Prime Minister Mohamed Chia al-Soudani called in a statement on the security forces to show “vigilance, to carefully inspect the roads and not to offer any chance to terrorist elements”.
“Adapt and Maintain”
In mid-December, three soldiers were killed and three injured in the explosion of a bomb as their patrol vehicle passed through the orchards of Tarmiya, a rural municipality located about thirty kilometers north of the capital Baghdad. Despite being routed, IS “maintained its ability to launch attacks at a steady pace”, recognized in January 2022 a UN report devoted to the danger posed by IS.
Exploiting the porous border between Iraq and Syria, the jihadist organization would retain “between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters in these two countries, concentrated mainly in rural areas, mainly Iraqi and Syrian nationals”, underlined the latest edition of this report. , published in the summer of 2022.
The group’s financial reserves would amount to around 25 million dollars, some even estimating that these funds, kept mainly in Iraq, could amount to up to 50 million dollars, according to the same source. The expenses of the jihadists, however, exceed their income, the report assures. “Sources of income include extortion, kidnapping for ransom, receipt of religious alms, direct donations and income from trade and investments,” according to the same source. “These various sources of income have contributed to establishing a financial system that allows the group to adapt and maintain itself, in various conditions”, underlines the UN report.