- IS attacks have become bolder and more advanced lately. They go to direct attacks against Iraq's security forces, says terrorist scientist Sam Heller of the International Crisis Group to SVT News.
Officially, IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017. Since then, the so-called sleeping cells of the terrorist group have been concentrated in rural areas in northern and southern Iraq.
US intelligence reports estimate that about 2,500-3,000 IS terrorists are in Iraq, and that about 500 have recently crossed the border from Syria.
The terrorist organization has also benefited from the political stalemate in Iraq. Today, the country got a prime minister after six months without government: the former spy chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi.