FEBRUARY 2022

IRAQ TODAY
KURDISH-LED SYRIAN DEMOCRATIC FORCES / AP
This photo provided by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces shows fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces gathered around a body of an
Islamic State group gunman who was killed after they attacked Gweiran Prison, in Hassakeh, northeast Syria, Friday, Jan. 21, 2022.
Kurdish fighters defend against
Islamic State attack
BAGHDAD (AP) — The Islamic State
group unleashed its biggest attack in
Syria since the fall of its “caliphate”
three years ago. More than 100 militants
assaulted the main prison holding
suspected extremists, sparking a
battle with U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters
that continued 24 hours later and
left dozens dead on Friday.
Across the border in Iraq, gunmen
stormed an army barracks north
of Baghdad before dawn Friday while
soldiers inside slept, killing 11 before
escaping — the deadliest attack in
months on Iraq’s military.
The bold assaults suggest militants
have been revitalized after maintaining
a low- level insurgency in Iraq
and Syria over the past few years. The
group’s territorial control in Iraq and
Syria was crushed by a years-long
U.S.-backed campaign, but its fighters
continued with sleeper cells that have
increasingly killed scores of Iraqis and
Syrians in past months.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility
for the attack on its Aamaq
news service Friday, saying it aimed to
free prisoners and describing it as ongoing.
Attempted prison breaks have been
a main tactic of the group. During their
2014 surge in which they overwhelmed
territory in Iraq and Syria, they carried
out multiple prison breaks.
Friday’s attack in Iraq was a brazen
strike on a barracks in the mountainous
al-Azim district outside the town
of Baqouba.
Two security officials told The Associated
Press that IS militants broke
into the barracks at 3 a.m. after killing
a guard, shot dead the soldiers and
successfully fled. The officials spoke
on condition of anonymity as they
weren’t authorized to issue official
statements.
The Iraqi military said in a statement
that a lieutenant and 10 soldiers
were killed. The officials said
reinforcements and security forces deployed
in the area.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-
Kadhimi vowed the attack on the barracks
“will not go without decisive
punishment,” saying the Iraqi military
had to duty “to prevent the repeat of
these violations and to hunt down the
terrorists.”
IS was largely defeated in Iraq in
2017, but its militants have continued
to wage attacks, frequently hitting
security forces and military with
roadside bombs and firing on military
convoys or checkpoints.
They have at times also attacked
civilians. In October, IS militants
armed with machine guns raided a
predominantly Shiite village in Iraq’s
Diyala province, killing 11 civilians
and wounding several others. Officials
at the time said the attack occurred
after the militants had kidnapped villagers
and their demands for ransom
were not met.
The Islamic State group’s selfstyled
caliphate at its height covered a
third of both of Iraq and Syria. The ensuing
war against them lasted several
years, killed thousands, and left large
parts of the two neighboring countries
in ruins. It also left U.S.-allied Kurdish
authorities in control of eastern and
northeastern Syria, with a small presence
of several hundred American
forces still deployed there.
El Deeb reported from Beirut.
Associated Press writer
Lolita C. Baldor in Washington
contributed to this report.
12 CHALDEAN NEWS FEBRUARY 2022