The New York Times: Iraq dealt a heavy blow to ISIS by killing Al-Issawi

As part of a joint mission with the Iraqi forces, the American forces launched an air raid that resulted in the death of a prominent leader of the Islamic State in Iraq called Abu Yasser Al-Issawi, which represented - according to a report published by the American (The New York Times) - a qualitative blow to the terrorist organization. To reunite.

In addition, the operation aimed to avenge the twin bombing carried out by the organization 10 days ago in Baghdad.

In the American New York Times report, writers Jane Araf and Faleh Hassan said that the leader of the Islamic State, Jabar Salman Ali Farhan al-Issawi (43 years), known as "Abu Yasser", was killed last Wednesday near the city of Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, according to what the forces said The US-led coalition and Iraqi officials Friday.

The report indicated that although ISIS lost all its strongholds in Iraq, it was still launching violent attacks in the country.

The role the United States played in the raid illustrates the extent to which Iraq has relied on its military support.

The coalition spokesman, Colonel Wayne Maruto, described Al-Issawi's death as a "big blow" to the efforts of ISIS to reunite its ranks.

According to counterterrorism experts, al-Issawi was in charge of coordinating the organization’s operations in Iraq, and Maruto confirmed that he was responsible for developing and transmitting directives to fighters, and helping expand the group’s influence in Iraq.

The double bombing in Baghdad left dozens dead and wounded (Anatolia)

Who led the operation?

Maroto pointed out that the Iraqi counterterrorism forces led the operation with air and intelligence support and under the supervision of the coalition forces.

While the coalition forces adhere to a policy of not revealing the identity of the countries involved in launching specific air strikes, high-ranking Iraqi security officials have acknowledged that the American planes carried out the strikes.

Iraqi officials indicated that the attack, which targeted an underground hideout, was in revenge for the killing of 32 in the double bombing of two ISIS suicide bombers in a market near Tayaran Square in Baghdad, which is the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in 4 years.

The organization had claimed responsibility for the bombing.

After the attack, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi dismissed a number of security and intelligence leaders, considering that the laxity of some security and intelligence forces was one of the factors that contributed to the attack.

According to Iraqi and American officials, the preparation for the operation to target the organization's hideout took months, and it was carried out after gathering intelligence information about the new center for ISIS operations.

And Issawi - who was born in the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad - had returned to Iraq 6 months ago, across the border from the Kurdistan region, coming from eastern Syria.

He was the "deputy caliph and governor of Iraq" in ISIS.

Up until the present moment, little is known about the group’s leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi, the successor to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who died after US forces raided his hideout in northern Syria in 2019.

Coaxial commander

According to the report, the leaders of operations in the organization - such as Al-Issawi - do not receive the same attention as senior leaders such as Al-Baghdadi or Al-Qurashi, but counter-terrorism officials have confirmed that they play pivotal roles.

"Leaders like Al-Baghdadi get attention, but people like Al-Issawi are the ones who do the dirty work, and coordinate operations between the upper and lower levels of the organization," the report quoted Colin Clark, an anti-terrorism analyst at the American Soufan Center.

According to Michael Knights, a fellow of the "Gill and Jay Bernstein" Program on Security and Military Affairs at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy: "Intelligence information showed that this man was the coordinator of ISIS operations, and Iraq is still probably fertile ground for the organization's activity."

Knights affirms that the death of al-Issawi shows the Iraqis that the government is able to take effective measures, and that the important US assistance in the raid comes in the midst of the Iraqi government facing increasing political pressure by pro-Iranian groups in Iraq to expel US forces from the country.

After the administration of former US President Donald Trump reduced the number of US forces in Iraq, only about 2,500 soldiers remained in 3 Iraqi military bases.

Even as the capabilities of Iraqi forces to fight ISIS have grown, the country continues to rely on intelligence and air support provided by coalition forces.

The report quoted political analyst and researcher at the "Century Foundation" Sajjad Jiyad, that "in practice, it is important to obstruct the organization’s activity as much as possible, but it is clear that it needs a lot of monitoring and control," adding that the organization has shown that it is able to continue its activities from During small cells, especially in rural areas and in rough terrain, it targets terrain that is difficult for Iraqi forces to constantly monitor.