The Iraqi military has launched a major offensive against Islamic State (ISIS) forces in the remote Hamrin Mountains, resulting in the death of Jassim al-Majouri Abu Abdul Qadir, a top ISIS commander. This was confirmed by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday. The ongoing campaign is part of Iraq’s long-standing battle to eliminate ISIS, which has been active in the country for nearly a decade.
Since ISIS emerged as a major threat, Iraq has been supported by the United States and other allied nations in its fight against the terrorist group. At one point, ISIS controlled more than a third of Iraq’s territory, but sustained military efforts have significantly reduced their influence. Despite this, pockets of ISIS fighters remain, especially in difficult-to-reach regions like the Hamrin Mountains, which have become a strategic base for the group in recent years.
The current operation is one of the largest targeting ISIS’s Hamrin stronghold, where the group has regrouped after being pushed out of major urban areas. According to U.S. Central Command, the operation led to the death of not only Qadir, the ISIS commander in Iraq, but also at least eight other ISIS militants.
ISIS leadership has been under constant attack in recent years. In 2015, a U.S. airstrike killed ISIS commander Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali in the same region. More recently, American military actions have eliminated several key figures, including ISIS founder and former leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed in a U.S. raid in 2019.
ISIS Leadership Under Pressure
The death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi marked a significant blow to ISIS. After Baghdadi’s death, the group’s leadership passed to Abu Ibrahim, a former member of Saddam Hussein’s military. Abu Ibrahim’s tenure was marked by a closer partnership with his second-in-command, Haji Abdullah al-Hashimi. In May of this year, reports emerged that al-Hashimi had been arrested in Istanbul, Turkey. However, before al-Hashimi’s arrest, his predecessor, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, was killed in an American military operation.
The frequent losses of high-ranking ISIS figures underscore the pressure the group is facing from international coalitions and regional forces. In July 2023, then-ISIS leader Abu al-Husayn al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was also killed in a Turkish-backed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) assault in Syria. HTS, a powerful armed faction operating in northern Syria, has been increasingly involved in clashes with ISIS remnants along the Iraq-Turkey border.
Continued Threat of ISIS
While ISIS has been largely driven out of Iraq’s major cities, it still poses a significant threat in remote regions. The Hamrin Mountains, known for their difficult terrain, have provided a natural refuge for ISIS fighters who have retreated from the frontlines. The Iraqi government has been intensifying its efforts to clear these areas of terrorist elements and prevent ISIS from re-establishing a foothold.
With the death of Jassim al-Majouri Abu Abdul Qadir and the ongoing military offensive, Iraqi forces are hoping to disrupt ISIS’s operations in the Hamrin region. However, experts caution that without continued pressure, the group could attempt to reorganize and continue guerrilla-style attacks across Iraq and Syria.