Iraq readies new strategy for fight against post-Mosul IS

PanARMENIAN.Net - With the Islamic State group's "caliphate" seemingly nearing its downfall in Iraq, the country's security agencies are preparing for a different fight against the militants, shifting away from ground offensives to a focus on intelligence work, surgical airstrikes and a higher level of cooperation with the West, The Associated Press said.

The new strategy is designed to counter an expected move by the Islamic State group away from holding territory and back to a more classic role as a dispersed, underground terror organization after it loses Mosul, its last major urban center in Iraq.

Already, the militants are laying the groundwork for a strategy of hiding in remote areas, carrying out attacks in Iraq and abroad and resorting to organized crime to bankroll operations, intelligence and counterterrorism officials said.

The immediate priority for Iraqi officials is to limit the number of militants who escape Mosul to go into hiding, they said. Longer term, they said, the fight against post-Mosul IS can only succeed if the border with Syria is secured and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad addresses longtime grievances by Iraq's Sunni Arab minority that fueled support for the militants.

Six officials — four from intelligence agencies and two from the Interior Ministry's counterterrorism agency — described the planning in interviews with The Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the agencies' preparations.

"Tough days await our intelligence and security agencies when they start fighting a different Islamic State," predicted Hisham al-Hashimi, an Iraqi security analyst.

It could still take weeks for Iraqi forces to fully retake the northern city of Mosul. But if the city falls, IS territory in Iraq that once stretched across a third of the country would be reduced to small pockets in the north and west that the military will likely be able to mop up relatively quickly. The group, however, will still have a cohesive, if eroding, stretch of territory in neighboring Syria.

Iraq is negotiating with several Western companies to buy surveillance equipment to monitor the long desert border with Syria, the officials said.

The equipment would beef up surveillance by Iraqi drones, they said. There are also plans to deploy units from the mainly Shiite state-sanctioned militias to help the army in patrolling the border, the officials said.