Small Wars Journal

The ISIS Tactics That Have Left Iraqi Special Forces Weakened

Tue, 05/08/2018 - 8:50pm

The ISIS Tactics That Have Left Iraqi Special Forces Weakened by Chirine Mouchantaf - Defense News

It took Iraqi forces three years to significantly drive Islamic State militants out of the country, but the group’s nontraditional tactics have damaged Iraq’s special forces, according to one major Iraqi military commander.

In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS after Iraqi forces recaptured the areas along the border with Syria that were under the group’s control.

However, ISIS used a number of nontraditional tactics that have “weakened the country’s special forces morale and dispersed their true roles,” said Gen. Taleb Al Kanani…

“One main challenge that we faced during our war with terrorists is the difficulty of confronting them in a traditional way because they were considered nontraditional enemies that used asymmetrical ways to try to defeat us,” he added. “So how come more than a thousand Iraqi members weren’t able to address the situation and overpower only 40 to 50 of them?

“What we have noticed in their war tactics, though, is that they tend to avoid direct confrontation. Instead, all their procedures are based on a psychological approach of terrorism.” …

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