Shafaq News– Baghdad

Iraq’s intelligence chief, Hamid al-Shatri, warned that ISIS is regaining strength in neighboring Syria, citing a sharp rise in the group’s manpower and renewed risks along the Iraqi border, according to an interview with The Washington Post.

Speaking in Baghdad, al-Shatri estimated the group’s ranks in Syria at about 10,000 fighters, up from roughly 2,000 a year earlier, warning that ISIS remains a transnational organization capable of exploiting instability to relaunch attacks. He linked the surge to turbulence in northeastern Syria, including prison unrest during recent fighting between the Syrian government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as the movement of militants into desert areas near the Iraq–Syria border.

“This certainly does pose a danger to Iraq, because ISIS —whether it’s in Syria or Iraq or anywhere in the world —is one organization, and it will certainly try and find ground once more in order to launch attacks,” al-Shatri said.

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