U.S.-supported Iraqi government troops and Iran-allied Shiite militiamen have reportedly retaken the “last” Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) bastion in northern Iraq, marking the latest sign that the jihadist group’s so-called caliphate in the region is dwindling.
Tehran has reportedly deployed dozens of artillery-backed tanks and its powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to link up with Iran-allied Shiite militias at the Iraqi Kurdistan border in response to the Kurds overwhelmingly voting in favor of independence from Iraq last Monday.
The U.S.-backed Iraqi military has reportedly announced that it plans “to coordinate military efforts” with neighboring Iran, considered by the American government to be the leading state-sponsor of terrorism.
Some activists claim northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region is removing members of the Yazidi minority group for joining the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or publicly opposing the upcoming independence referendum.
The next time post-Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) Iraq descends into war will be linked to the Baghdad-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group of predominantly Iran-backed Shiite militias, an Iran analyst during the 2017 Aspen Security Forum.
The Kurds in northern Iraq have accused the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a Baghdad-sanctioned umbrella organization largely made up of Iranian-backed Shiite militias, of carrying out an “Arabization” campaign in the disputed Kurdish areas in the region.
The U.S. Army has lost track of more than $1 billion worth of weapons and other equipment destined for local allies combating the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) in Iraq, including an Iran-allied group of Shiite fighters, reveals a report.
The U.S.-led coalition and its Iraqi partners should be vigilant against a near certain reemergence attempt by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) after it loses its territory in Iraq, where tens of thousands of Iran-allied Shiite militias pose just as serious of a threat to America’s interests, experts warned.
