Iraq concerned of ISIS resurgence in post al-Assad Syria

Iraq is concerned about a potential resurgence of ISIS in neighboring Syria and believes only a credible and inclusive political process will bring security to the country after the overthrow of former President Bashar Al-Assad.

The extremist group “became bigger, attracted more members recently and controlled more weapons because of the fact the Syrian army collapsed,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

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Iraqi society still harbors “ISIS cells and a basis for ISIS ideology,” the minister added. The group is designated a terrorist organization by most countries around the world, including Muslim ones.

At its height in 2014-2016, ISIS, an offshoot of al-Qaeda that was born out of the chaos of the Syrian war, controlled about a third of the country and nearly 40 percent of Iraq as part of its self-styled caliphate. As the group masterminded and executed terror attacks around the world, Washington led an international military campaign that severely degraded the group and resulted in the death of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

It was not immediately possible to verify the Iraqi minister’s assertions about an expansion in ISIS ranks and territory in the weeks since al-Assad’s overthrow in December. The long-standing dictator fled the country when armed opposition forces led by “Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham,” a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, captured the capital Damascus.

Syria is now run by an HTS-controlled interim government, though the task of restoring order is complicated by the existence of many different armed groups across the war-ravaged nation.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that ISIS continues to pose a threat, and Washington will keep around 900 military personnel in northeast Syria and maintain a partnership with Kurdish militias to “prevent its resurgence in the region.”

Hussein said the only way to stabilize Syria and contain ISIS is to hold an inclusive national dialogue that adheres to Security Council Resolution 2254, which was introduced in 2015 and lays out a peace plan for the country. That stance that was affirmed by Iraq and other Arab states like Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates when they met last month.

With Bloomberg

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