ISIS attempted attack on PMF post highlights lingering threat in Iraq
BAGHDAD – Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said on Sunday they had thwarted an attack by Islamic State militants on one of their security positions in Tuz Khurmatu district in Saladin province, underscoring the group’s continued ability to mount surprise attacks despite the loss of most of its former territorial control.
The PMF’s 63rd Brigade said a group of Islamic State fighters attacked a position belonging to its commando regiment in the Marssa Ali mountain sector of Tuz Khurmatu.
The brigade said its forces responded immediately, engaging the attackers and forcing them to retreat into rugged terrain without achieving their objective. It said its units remained on high alert and would continue operations to pursue Islamic State remnants and prevent further attacks.
A joint force of the Iraqi army and PMF launched a wider security operation on Sunday morning around the Marssa Ali mountains and surrounding rugged areas to track the militants who carried out the attack, a security source said.
The operation was aimed not only at pursuing the attackers but also at tracing their route, identifying the areas from which they had emerged and locating possible hideouts and supply routes, the source said.
Iraqi forces continued search and clearance operations in the area to prevent the militants from regrouping or launching another attack, the source added.
Although limited in scale, the assault highlights the continuing security challenge posed by Islamic State cells, which have shifted from territorial warfare to hit-and-run attacks, ambushes and the use of remote and difficult terrain to evade Iraqi forces.
The group no longer controls the swathes of territory it once held in Iraq, but its surviving networks retain the ability to operate in parts of the country where mountainous terrain, gaps in security coverage and difficult geography provide opportunities for concealment and movement.
The latest attack comes at a particularly sensitive time for Iraq, with the US-led international coalition scheduled to end its military mission in the country on Sept. 30, 2026.
The planned departure will place greater responsibility on Iraqi forces to maintain the intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and air capabilities that have been central to operations against Islamic State remnants.
Baghdad has repeatedly said the end of the coalition mission will not mean a retreat in Iraq’s ability to combat Islamic State, but the transition will nevertheless test the capacity of Iraqi security institutions to operate independently and maintain coordination among their various formations.
The security challenge also comes as the Iraqi government seeks to consolidate weapons under state control, an effort closely linked to its broader attempt to strengthen state institutions and establish a unified security architecture.
For Baghdad, preventing a security vacuum will be critical as it manages both the transition away from the international coalition and the relationship between the regular armed forces and armed factions operating under or alongside the state security system.
The latest joint operation reflects an understanding among Iraqi security authorities that containing Islamic State requires sustained preventive operations rather than a response only after attacks have taken place.
Small-scale attacks can allow the group to preserve its manpower and logistical networks while testing the ability of security forces to detect and disrupt its movements. Repeated assaults can also place pressure on local forces and undermine confidence in security in areas along the boundaries between Saladin, Kirkuk and Diyala.
The risk is therefore not determined solely by the size of the Islamic State’s remaining fighting force. The group can also exploit political and security transitions, including the withdrawal of foreign forces and efforts to restructure the relationship between the Iraqi state and armed factions.
Iraq’s next phase will require the government to strengthen intelligence capabilities, maintain close coordination between the army, security agencies and PMF units and ensure that the departure of foreign forces does not create gaps that militant cells can exploit.
The central test will be whether Iraq can translate the end of the coalition mission into greater state control rather than a security vacuum, while confronting two parallel challenges: the resurgence of Islamic State cells and the continued presence of weapons outside the full control of state institutions.