We eliminated 99% of ISIS elements in the country

Years after declaring victory, Major General Yahya Rasool, spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, revealed that the army is working to hand over city centers in the liberated provinces. ISIS terrorist organization To the Ministry of the Interior in stages, after the elimination of 99% of his strength.

In a press statement, on Friday, Rasoul said that work is underway to hand over the entire security file to the Ministry of Interior in all regions, stressing that the security situation, which he described as good in the liberated areas, allowed this step.

Filling security gaps

He also continued that the mission of his forces, as armed forces, is to leave the cities and deploy outside them, secure the borders, and fill any security vacuum that may occur in rural or remote areas, or even in the desert of Anbar.

Rasul described the security situation in Iraq in general as very good, explaining that there is a state of stability, control and security for all Iraqi regions, as the armed forces have a high readiness to deal with any security threat, especially since the army is still present in some centers of the cities of Mosul and Salah al-Din and in Diyala, in cooperation with the police forces.

He pointed out that 99% of the capacity of ISIS in Iraq has been eliminated, and that the organization has no strength or ability to carry out major operations, but rather it is present through small cells whose numbers range between two and six.

He explained that ISIS cells can no longer control any point, and they cannot move freely now, just as Iraq is no longer safe for them, but rather they hide in the depths of the desert, in the valleys, or in the mountain ranges.

While there are daily pursuit and follow-up operations for ISIS cells in the areas where they hide, with a focus on filling any security vacuum in the areas surrounding the cities, by deploying army units to block any outlet through which ISIS cells may infiltrate the cities.

Sixth Iraqi governorate

It is noteworthy that the Iraqi Ministry of Interior had announced on Wednesday that it had taken over the security leadership of Anbar Governorate, which is the sixth Iraqi governorate in which the security file will be transferred to the Ministry of Interior, in an attempt to enhance stability in cities liberated from the control of ISIS.

ISIS elements in Iraq (archive – Reuters)

Since the fall of the regime of the former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, in 2003, Iraq has been suffering from unstable security conditions, in light of the spread of armed organizations.

The chaos reached its peak in 2014, when the Islamic State group took control of large parts of the country.

Until the Iraqi forces, with the support of the international coalition led by the United States, succeeded in expelling the organization from Iraq in 2017, after strong military confrontations.