“Targeting Al-Rasool al-Azam Mosque in Shuala city, north of Baghdad, on Feb. 25 and Maridi market in Sadr City three days later will not stand in our way. It will only increase the willingness and insistence of the army heroes, security apparatus and Popular Mobilization Units on cleansing the Iraqi cities and lands from the evil of terrorism. Their foiling of the attack on Silo Khan Dari and killing of terrorists proves this.”
This statement discussed other IS operations against Iraqi security forces within a short period and explored the security breaches by this organization. Critical to understanding the security of Baghdad and the surrounding regions, there are six regions surrounding the capital from the north, west and southwest, forming what is known as the “Baghdad Belt.”
These regions are Latifiya, Taji, al-Mushahada, al-Tarmia, Arab Jibor and al-Mada’in, and they are mostly Sunni and considered “fertile terrorist soil,” according to the deputy head of the security committee in Baghdad’s provincial council, Saad al-Matlabi.
He told Al-Monitor the areas lie along the borders with the Iraqi provinces of Salahuddin, Diyala and Anbar, where huge battles are still raging between Iraqi security forces and the Popular Mobilization Units against IS.
Despite the constant reinforcement and the security plans for the Baghdad Belt, 30 IS fighters managed to reach Abu Ghraib city on the capital’s outskirts and kill 13 Iraqi soldiers.
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