An interview with Maj. Gen. Saad Al-Alaq, head of the Iraqi Directorate of Military Intelligence UNIPATH STAFF Unipath: What was the role of the Directorate of Military Intelligence in the defeat of Daesh? Maj. Gen. Saad Al-Alaq: After the events of June 10, 2014, and the control of terrorist gangs of large areas of Iraq, our directorate began to collect intelligence and recruit a large number of sources and collaborators who provided us with important information. The directorate managed to infiltrate the terrorist organization and locate the enemy’s command and control and weapons caches, and accurate airstrikes led to the loss of a…
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Special Operations Forces Expel Terrorists From Strongholds in Eastern Afghanistan LT. AMY FORSYTHE, U.S. NAVY In one of the largest joint operations ever conducted between U.S. and Afghan special operations forces, Afghan commandos captured a major Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) stronghold in eastern Afghanistan in June 2018, effectively depriving the terror group of its local capital. The Afghan commandos were advised by U.S. Army Special Forces Soldiers assigned to NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan. The joint force of Afghan Special Security Forces (ASSF) and U.S. Green Berets killed 170 fighters affiliated with ISIS-K, the terror network’s Afghan offshoot, during a multipronged…
Iraq’s Directorate of Media and Moral Guidance gained skills in countering terrorist propaganda Unipath Staff Daesh adopted misinformation campaigns through its electronic army, which broadcast rumors and twisted facts to sow horror and chaos in the hearts of residents. Its methods of psychological influence inflated its military capabilities by publishing news of victories and fake battles. The Directorate of Media and Moral Guidance in the Iraq Ministry of Defense played a major role in attacking Daesh’s propaganda enterprise and destroying the morale of its fighters. Unipath magazine met with the man who led this unconventional war and helped to achieve major…
How an Iraqi Grandmother Saved Soldiers’ Lives and Inspired a Nation Unipath Staff It is a tradition among Arab tribes to have a nakhua, or title, for those who make the tribe proud. The nakhua of the al-Jabour tribe is “Akhu Hadla.” But maybe, after the courage shown by Aliyah Khalaf Saleh al-Jabouri, known as Umm Qusay, the new nakhua will be “Akhu Aliyah.” Umm Qusay is now a familiar name that has entered the hearts of the Iraqi people for helping to save the lives of more than 50 Iraqi Soldiers stranded in areas overrun by Daesh thugs. She is…
Eliminating Terrorist Cells in the Iraqi Capital is a Priority After the Defeat of Daesh UNIPATH STAFF Terrorist gangs have focused on targeting the civilian population in the capital, Baghdad, with the aim of destabilizing the city and provoking a media whirlwind suggesting the Iraqi government has lost control of security. Terrorist groups intensified their truck bombings in Baghdad in mid-2009, but the cohesion and courage of the security forces thwarted the terrorist schemes. The bloody bombing of Karrada in 2016, which coincided with the announcement of the liberation of Fallujah from Daesh, marked a turning point in the thinking of…
Iraqi defenders withstood nearly a year of Daesh attacks on a strategic oil refinery STAFF COL. ALI SAHAM ALKENANI, IRAQI COUNTER-TERRORISM SERVICE | Photos by Getty Images The Battle for Baiji Refinery cannot be summed up in a single article. The stories of heroism there are the stuff of military legend: the fierceness of the fighting, the plumes of smoke from burning fuel tanks that blocked the sun, the earth quaking from the intensity of the explosions, the tales of martyrdom etched in Soldiers’ hearts. For 11 months we lived in the Baiji refinery, demonstrating patriotic resolve in the face…
UNIPATH STAFF Reapplying lessons learned in the campaign against Daesh in Iraq, coalition aircraft in Afghanistan are striking drug labs and other illegal sources of revenue that sustain Taliban terrorists. U.S. and Afghan pilots have struck dozens of heroin-processing labs that provide most of the hundreds of millions of dollars terrorists use to buy weapons and hire fighters. “The Taliban will have no safe havens. We will continue to exploit their networks and decimate their ability to develop narcotics,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. James Hecker, commander, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan. “They have become a criminal…
UNIPATH STAFF Police in Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continue to seize hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of illegal drugs, highlighting the importance of multinational cooperation in policing Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Anti-narcotics forces from the three countries upset at least four large drug smuggling operations in the first half of 2018 and many others in 2017. The seizures involved hashish, marijuana, heroin and amphetamine pills called Captagon. “Border security will not slack at their job to thwart attempts to undermine security,” a spokesman for the Saudi government said. “Suspects will be dealt with appropriately…
Jordanian and U.S. troops complete the 8th annual Eager Lion military exercise UNIPATH STAFF Downpours the night before had left the normally dry desert floor laced with muddy trenches. Asked to repel enemy forces trying to slip across the border, Jordanian and U.S. Soldiers converted the trenches into defensive positions. Troops from the Jordanian border guards and the California U.S. Army National Guard, their ankles and knees immersed in the remains of the rains, engaged in a muddy bout of mortaring and machine gunning. They were using real ammunition and — combined with firepower from U.S. and Jordanian tanks, artillery…
The Afghan Government Must Improve Public Services to Gain the Loyalty of Citizens AHMAD FARID FAROZI, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS, DEMOCRACY InTERNATIONAL, AFGHANISTAN Empirical evidence has shown positive correlations between the quality and efficiency of public service delivery and the level of trust citizens have in their government. For a fragile country such as Afghanistan, where nonstate actors in remote areas compete with the government, the legitimacy of the state essentially depends on the citizens’ trust and confidence. For rural Afghans, where anti-government elements can exert direct influence, the quality and efficiency of public institutions are what matter most. Therefore, regardless…