A senior Iraqi military official confirmed today, Sunday, that the terrorist organization ISIS maintains about 400 to 500 fighters in Iraq.
According to estimates published in a UN Security Council report in February, the group has “between 5,000 and 7,000 members and supporters spread between Iraq” and Syria, “about half of them fighters.”
After its rise in 2014 in Iraq and neighboring Syria, the terrorist organization, after a series of military operations against it in the two countries, with the support of an international coalition led by Washington, was defeated.
While Iraq declared “victory” over the extremist organization in 2017, its elements are still active in rural and remote areas of the country and launch sporadic attacks.
During a press conference on Sunday alongside the head of the Counter-Terrorism Service, Lieutenant General Qais al-Muhammadawi, deputy head of the Joint Operations Command, which organizes the cooperation of the Iraqi security forces with the international coalition, said, “According to all intelligence agencies and according to accurate information, the total number of members of the organization does not exceed 400.” to 500 fighters, in three to four provinces.
“The organization has lost the ability to gain new elements,” the official added.
#Iraq #reveals #ISIS #remnants #numbers