Major operations in populated areas of Iraq may have ended in a decisive win for Iraq’s armed forces but the decimation of Da’ish in the land of two rivers is not over yet. What was left of Da’ish’s military contingents fled to Iraq’s western desert looking for reprieve but did not find any there. Riding the wave of victory, Iraqi forces are now initiating a new phase in their war on terrorism as they look to root out the Da’ish elements aiming to revive an insurgency. With elections looming on the horizon, the security situation is steadily but cautiously improving.

Not so quiet on the Western front

Over the last fortnight, Iraqi forces have conducted one of the biggest clearing operations in western Iraq to date, with the aim of dislodging Da’ish remnants from the Jazirah desert region that connects the restive provinces of Ninawa, Salahuddin and Anbar. Within the first five days of this operation, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced that 14,000km2 had been recaptured and secured as Da’ish elements in the desert melted away. This operation marks a historic achievement for the government as it is reasserting control over land that has been out of Baghdad’s reach since the collapse of the former regime in 2003.

Upwards of eighty villages have so far been retaken as operations continue in the area that spans around 30,000km2, reaching out from north of the Euphrates River in Anbar and extending into the desert region in western Salahuddin province and all the way up to southern Ninawa. This vast and lawless expanse of desert has been home to training bases, weapons depots and staging areas for launching terror attacks for over a decade, utilized by both Da’ish and its predecessors during their previous terror campaigns in Iraq. Recapturing and securing this area will deal a major blow to Da’ish aspirations of regrouping and rebuilding their organization into a competent fighting force once more.

The most lucrative target in this desert is Wadi Horan, the longest valley in Iraq, which stretches for 350km from the border region with Saudi Arabia all the way to the Euphrates River. The valley, with its famous 200-metre- deep gorges, has been under Da’ish control since the Iraqi military collapse in 2014 and has been converted into a Da’ish stronghold deep into the desert. Da’ish commanders have used this area as a safe haven to shield themselves from Iraqi and US-led coalition aircraft for years, as well as a critical logistics hub. The campaign to secure this terrain will also serve to bolster security along Iraq’s borders with Saudi, Jordan and most importantly Syria. In cooperation with hundreds of local Sunni tribesmen, Iraqi forces have launched several operations in the peripheries of Rawah and Rutba to tackle Da’ish terror cells camping in the area, and who have carried out dozens of deadly attacks on isolated army outposts in western Anbar over the past year.