Kurdish Official Fears Daesh Comeback In Iraq

There are still several thousand militants operating. Some Western military officials say the number operating between Iraq and Syria could be more than 10,000

SULAIMANIYA

A senior Kurdish official has said there are growing indications that Daesh is trying to make a comeback after an uptick in attacks in Iraq.

At least 19 members of Iraqi and Iraqi Kurdish security forces have been killed in recent days across the country, according to military statements and security officials, prompting calls from Iraq’s president to remain vigilant to the threat of a resurgent Daesh.

The attacks come after Baghdad’s deadliest suicide bombing in three years, claimed in January by the ultra Sunni group, and amid fears that a reduction of US-led forces could upset stability.

“It seems like (Daesh) have re-organised,” Lahur Talabany, co-president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party and a former intelligence chief told Reuters in an interview.

Originally an offshoot of al Qaeda, Daesh took large swathes of Iraq and Syria from 2014, imposing a reign of terror with public beheadings and attacks by supporters abroad.

Daesh was declared militarily defeated in 2017 but has since waged a steady insurgency across parts of northern Iraq and a porous border with neigbouring Syria.