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A senior military official estimated on Sunday that the Islamic State group still has up to 500 active fighters in Iraq, where jihadist cells continue to occasionally carry out attacks.
However, Iraqi General Qais al-Mohamadawi, a member of the anti-jihadist coalition, emphasized that IS has “lost its ability to attract new recruits” because it is now based in secluded desert and mountain hideouts.
IS still has “5,000 to 7,000 members and supporters” in Iraq and neighboring Syria, “roughly half of whom are fighters,” according to a report from the UN that was released last month.
In 2014, IS extremists declared their own “caliphate” across large portions of both nations in a campaign characterized by extreme brutality that included mass executions, torture, rape, and slavery.
IS cells continue to target security forces and civilians in both Iraq and Syria despite US-backed counteroffensives ending their territorial control in both countries in 2017 and 2019.
US General Michael Kurilla, head of Central Command, issued a warning on Saturday about the ongoing threat of a “ISIS army in detention,” using an alternate acronym for IS, noting that thousands of suspected IS fighters and their relatives are currently being held in large detention facilities.
Hundreds of IS fighters are still active in Iraq, according to General Mohamadawi, deputy commander of the Iraqi operations unit working with the international anti-jihadist coalition.
The total number of IS fighters, he said at a press conference, “does not exceed 400 to 500,” according to information from intelligence agencies.
He went on to say that the organization has “lost its ability to recruit new members,” citing a military operation on February 26 that resulted in the deaths of 22 IS members and the destruction of a “training camp” in the province of Al-Anbar.
According to a UN report from last month, “sustained counter-terrorism operations” in both countries had significantly diminished IS.
According to the report, the group continues to operate cells in Syria that range in size from 15 to 30 people and employs “guerrilla warfare tactics” against civilians, other fighters, and government forces.
The UN report stated that IS cells in Iraq operate in remote mountainous areas while attempting to “rebuild and recover,” “leveraging the porous Iraqi-Syrian border and maintaining manoeuvrability to evade attacks,” according to the report.
The report stated that IS had begun investing in hotels and real estate to launder money and engaging in cattle rustling to raise funds. It estimated IS’s “dwindling cash reserves” at $25 million to $50 million.
