Iraq announces arrest of top jihadist leader
Iraqi Prime Minister Mostafa al-Kazemi has announced the arrest of a Daesh leader believed to be the ringleader of a July 2016 bombing in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood. The attack was one of the most dramatic in the country, killing 320 people.
The arrest was confirmed by al-Kazemi himself on his Twitter account, saying that the terrorist Ghazuan al-Zaubai was arrested "by our brave forces in an intelligence operation outside the country. He is the main culprit of this tragedy and many others," he said.
In turn, al Kazemi said it was a "national duty" to arrest those involved in the "shedding of the blood of the people". He also announced the preparation of a memorial for the victims of the attack and their families as "part of our agreement for all Iraqi victims".
Iraqi Defence Ministry spokesman Yahya Rasul emphasised that the terrorist is "one of the most wanted by the Iraqi justice system" for having carried out multiple "criminal operations against the Iraqi people".
This news comes just a week after al-Kazemi confirmed the arrest of Sami Jasim Muhamad al-Jaburi, a man who is said to have been in close contact with the former leader of Daesh, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and who is said to have been organising the finances of the terrorist group.
The US Treasury Department approved sanctions in 2015 against al-Jaburi for providing "financial support" to the group and noted that he oversaw the terrorists' finances, along with oil, gas and mineral resource operations.
In addition, al-Jaburi was part of Daesh as the jihadist group's "number two" in Mosul. However, in a US operation, al-Jaburi was killed in 2019 in northwestern Syria.
On 31 August, US President Joe Biden announced the departure of the last C-17 cargo plane, leaving a battered population at the mercy of the new political phase under the Afghan Taliban. Since its departure, Afghanistan has been the scene of multiple terrorist attacks by ISIS-K, the Afghan Daesh affiliate. The latest of these, perpetrated just three days ago, targeted a Shia Mosque in Kandahar, leaving at least 55 dead.
In addition, it is worth noting that Afghanistan is under a new Taliban government that, while trying to dissociate itself from its history and its policy of terror during the 1990s, continues to pursue violent and radical policies.
Following the announcement of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and its now effective exit, Iraq will be the next country to experience a US withdrawal.
"I was not going to extend this war forever" argued Biden in a scenario in which terrorism continues to be the protagonist. Thus, the US is leaving those countries where it has been for two decades as part of the so-called war on terror. However, the withdrawal of Western troops does not mean the end of the war; terrorism continues, aggravated by the radicals' desire to demonstrate their power.
According to EFE, US and Iraqi government representatives are reportedly finalising a plan for US forces to withdraw by the end of this year. Iraq, which has been plagued by a long history of jihadist attacks, now fears that the withdrawal could lead to a proliferation of jihadism.
However, according to political officials quoted by The Wall Street Journal, an indefinite number of US military personnel will remain in the country indefinitely to support the air force and the intelligence division in the fight against Daesh. State Department spokesman Ned Price responded to these statements by rejecting this confirmation but assured that US military activities "remain on the table" in the country.
According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, "we don't need more fighters because we have (...) we need cooperation in the intelligence field. We need help in training. We need troops to help us from the air'.
This year alone, Iraq has seen major jihadist suicide attacks that have claimed the lives of hundreds of people. Among the most shocking was the January attack on an open-air market in central Baghdad. In this attack at least 32 people were killed and 110 wounded.