A raid on a Baghdad government building killed at least 18 people today, bringing the country’s death toll this month to to over 900 and putting Iraq on pace to exceed 2013’s death tool. Nearly 8,000 lives were claimed last year by spiraling, largely sectarian violence in Iraq.
The large-scale attack began when six assailants wearing suicide vests stormed the Transportation Ministry building in Baghdad. One attacker blew himself up at the gate of the building, creating a breach through which the others entered. Four attackers managed to enter the building and take hostages.
According to published reports, ten more people were killed in other bombings in and around Baghdad.
Bill Roggio, managing editor of The Long War Journal published by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, sees trademarks marking the attackers as Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS) fighters:
While no group has claimed credit for today’s attack, the ISIS is currently the only group in Iraq staging suicide assaults of this magnitude in the Iraqi capital. Ansar al Islam (or Ansar al Sunnah), another al Qaeda linked group that operates in Iraq, occasionally deploys suicide bombers against Iraqi security forces and civilian targets, but has yet to claim what the ISIS calls a “storming operation.” The suicide assault, or coordinated attack using multiple suicide bombers and an assault team, is a tactic that is frequently used in Iraq by the ISIS.
ISIS is known to treat Iraq and Syria as a single front. The point was highlighted a few months ago by the highly respected NightWatch intelligence bulletin, by way of emphasizing that “[the] fighting is no longer containable in Iraq.”
Inside Iraq, ISIS has moved more than once to secure routes that facilitate movement between Iraq and Syria. In November the Iraqi army displayed documents that reportedly described ISIS plans to capture towns near the Syrian border. A December attack by ISIS killed an Iraqi general and many of his staff, part of an effort to seize the border town of Rutbah. The area is a critical smuggling route and transit point to Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The offensive came among broader moves by ISIS to retake many towns once held by Al Qaeda that had fallen to U.S. and Iraqi forces during the 2007 surge.
The Al Qaeda-linked group’s campaigns had already shown signs of sustained success:
“We’re seeing sustained gun battles with Iraqi security forces,” said Jessica Lewis, research director of the Institute for the Study of War, who has studied the resurgence of the group that began by calling itself al-Qaeda in Iraq. “This shows they want to stay, to stake out their turf. If you’re moving in on a territory, this is what you do.”… [an operation last December], for which ISIS has claimed responsibility, showcased extensive training, ruthless motivation and tactical sophistication.
Inside Syria ISIS has spent significant resources battling moderate elements in the opposition. Last December, ISIS fighters kidnapped and killed two FSA commanders, in between targeting civilian anti-Assad activists and institutionalizing beheadings in areas that the organization controls.
Analysts fear that ISIS footholds in Syria and Iraq will trigger destabilization in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan.
[Photo: Alhurra News / YouTube ]