Even though the government of Iraq announced its victory over ISIS about a year ago, the group has not disappeared from the country. In fact, it actually seems to be experiencing a resurgence in the northern parts of Iraq, where militants are carrying out assassinations, plundering villages and planting explosives on roads. In addition, Iraqi intelligence officials believe that ISIS is training new recruits for a new “strike force.”
While Iraqi politicians hail the victory over ISIS, analysts like Hisham al-Hashimi note that “Iraq has not learned the lesson from ISIS,” because “the same reasons that made ISIS a state are still there and growing.”
While ISIS in Syria is on the verge of being defeated by forces supported by the US, the militants in Iraq might actually benefit from that, as many ISIS fighters from Syria have now fled to Iraq, where they might join up with the local insurgents.
Read more: Iraq defeated ISIS more than a year ago. The group’s revival is already underway
