ISIS revives "Ramadan Invasions" in the "Triangle of Death"

Shafaq News/ lately, ISIS has escalated its attacks in several Iraqi Governorates, most of which targeted security points for the Iraqi forces and the Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF).

Specialists and officials said this escalation aimed to revive the so-called "Ramadan invasions (Ghazwat Ramadan)" and follow the messages of the new ISIS leader in Iraq, who called for intensifying the "jihadist operations."

"ISIS chose targets and areas in Diyala, Kirkuk, the outskirts of Saladin, and even Al-Anbar, taking advantage of the security vacuums and the messages of the new leader of the organization," the PMF's commander of Nineveh operations, Khudair al-Matrouhi told Shafaq News Agency.

He called for "firm measures against these acts by cooperating with the Intelligence Agency, updating security plans, involving the citizen in the security file, and providing modern cameras and other equipment to secure the points."

"The security forces can thwart terrorist plots," Al-Matrouhi confirmed.

Located 105 km northeast of Baqubah, the Khanaqin district in Diyala was targeted twice by ISIS, killing three and wounding six others.

A member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Ibrahim Aziz, attributed the attacks in Khanaqin to "some security negligence after the stability that prevailed in Khanaqin for many months."

Aziz told our Agency, "Regional interventions have recently moved ISIS in the hot spots on the outskirts of Diyala, Kirkuk, and Saladin to preserve the so-called "Ramadan invasions" which the terrorist organization launched annually." In the holy month of Ramadan.

The KDP official called for "preserving security stability on the outskirts of Khanaqin and closing the corridors exploited by ISIS members to repeat the series of death against civilians."

A PMF official confirmed that "ISIS recently adopted the strategy of reviving the former incubators as messages to its sleeper cells to work and coordinate again."

He stressed that "PMF has reinforced all its security points in the hot spots in Diyala to be ready for terrorist attacks."

In 2017, Iraq declared final victory over ISIS after Iraqi forces drove its last remnants from the country; the militant group had captured about a third of Iraq's territory.

The war has had a devastating impact on the areas previously controlled by the militants. About 3.2 million people remain displaced.