A few days before this incident, the security forces decided to build a wall and set up new checkpoints around Baghdad, but the parliamentary Sunni blocs rejected this decision and dismissed it as an attempt to cause a rift.
Shiite Anwar TV2, which broadcasts from Kuwait, reported in its Feb. 18 program "Sani’ou al-Hadath" that the “Baghdad Belt still harbors terrorism.”
Matlabi said, “IS members in these areas are positioned in Taji, al-Taramia and al-Mushahada as well as in Abu Ghraib, adjacent to al-Karma, which is part of Anbar.” He noted, “There is fertile terrorist soil in Latifiya, south of Baghdad, and these areas sympathize with IS. But political opposition claiming to defend Sunnis is preventing the Iraqi security forces and the Popular Mobilization Units from cleansing these regions. There is also pressure from blocs that claim to be Sunni affiliated in order to enter some regions with the displaced."
Iskander Watut, a member of the Iraqi parliament's defense and security committee, described the security situation on the outskirts of Baghdad as “bad, especially after the recent IS attacks in the Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib.” He told Al-Monitor, “The Baghdad Operations Command must develop new security plans and cleanse the outskirts of the capital from the remaining members of the terrorist organizations.”
Watut added, “IS seeks to repeat its attacks, but pre-emptive operations must be carried out to prevent it from reaching its target location. This cannot be achieved without intensified intelligence efforts from the Iraqi security forces.”
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