MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2020) The Islamic State militant group (banned in Russia as a terrorist organization) has been increasing attacks in Iraq despite losing all the land it seized six years ago, the head of the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters told Sputnik on Thursday.
"Despite the announcement of terrorists' defeat in 2017, their activities have not stopped. On the contrary, they have scaled up [attacks] after losing the last of the territory they seized in 2017," Peshmerga secretary-general Jabbar Yawar said.
The group has returned to its insurgent roots in Iraq, resorting to hit-and-run attacks on the Iraqi military and civilians.
"The guerrilla war against small groups bombing, ambushing and launching strikes on military targets and kidnapping civilians and military personnel is still going on with varying degrees of success," the Kurdish official said.
Yawar explained that the Iraqi military relied on weapons to flush out the jihadist group, which was operating internationally with the help of foreign sponsors and recruits.
