ICTS sweeps multiple Iraqi provinces for ISIS hideouts
Shafaq News- Baghdad
The Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) on Wednesday launched a wide-ranging search operation across several provinces, targeting remaining ISIS cells and suspected hideouts to strengthen security and disrupt the group’s activity.
The searches spanned western Nineveh’s desert, Baiji in Saladin province, the Najaf desert, the Nukhaib desert in al-Anbar, Qazaniya north of Badra in Wasit, Mandali in Diyala, Al-Fuhoud in Dhi Qar, and the al-Muthanna desert.
Although ISIS lost territorial control in Iraq in 2017, it continues to operate as an insurgent network across the desert and rural areas. In mid-April, the Interior Ministry reported that security forces dismantled four ISIS-linked cells during operations conducted in 2026, warning that the group has increasingly relied on social media and online gaming platforms to recruit young people.
Read more: On ISIS defeat anniversary, Iraq confronts a reawakening insurgency
