Iraq struggles to combat evolving terrorist threat
The Islamic State has developed a new way to conduct its terror operations, while the Iraqi government is unable to prevent security breaches.
Iraq needs to up its game if it hopes to keep up — or rather, catch up — with ever-evolving terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (IS).
The Iraqi government is unable to secure its cities, including the capital, Baghdad, even in Shiite areas that offer no support or accommodations to IS. In fact, terrorist acts are often carried out in the heart of Baghdad's Shiite areas.
In July, a suicide car bombing targeted a security checkpoint at the entrance of the city's Shiite majority neighborhood of Kadhimiya. Most recently, a Jan. 11 operation included a suicide car bombing, shooting and hostage taking in the crowded al-Zahra shopping center in the Shiite-majority area of New Baghdad; 32 people were killed by the bomber and accompanying gunmen.
IS officially claimed responsibility for the Jan. 11 attack. “Four soldiers of the caliphate carried out a suicide fighting operation amid a crowd of apostate polytheists in central Baghdad [and] caused a large death toll," IS said on its social media pages.
