By Simon Kent. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has announced that 200 more advisers and trainers will be joining the effort to re-vamp the Iraqi army ahead of a planned offensive to re-take Mosul, the last major urban stronghold of the so called Islamic State in Iraq. The development is more significant than numbers alone, […]
By John Lee. In a new report published for the Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies, Dr Michael Knights, Lafer Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, argues that those who say that there is no longer any such thing as the Iraqi security forces (ISF) are fully aware the line they are […]
Following Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s decision to reshuffle senior security commanders, Deputy Interior Minister Adnan al-Asadi, an ally of former PM Nouri al-Maliki, was removed from his position. Since assuming office, Abadi has been seeking to clear key government positions from Maliki’s influence, which is effectively strengthening the Iranian-backed Badr Organisation and one of its […]
The fate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who may have been targeted in airstrikes conducted against an ISIS convoy in Mosul and a gathering of militants in the border town of al-Qaim in Anbar is unlikely to have dramatic effects on security dynamics in Iraq. If these reports were confirmed however, ISIS could decide to launch […]
