The assistant commander of the Qara Tapa / Hamrin axis of the Peshmerga, Major General Muhammad Rustom, said that ISIS's capabilities have enhanced in Iraq, and began launching attacks instead of planting explosives and kidnapping shepherds to prove its presence in the country.
He added, "An Death Eater gang consisting of 200 elements called Jund Allah was separated from ISIS, but pledged allegiance to it recently, and was brought from Syria to Iraq and distributed to the governorates to carry out attacks."
He pointed out that this information was reported by the Global Coalition to the Iraqi authorities.
"A person close to the former terrorist leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was located in a specific area on the Syrian borders", he said, noting that he might be al-Baghdadi's brother or cousin.
He added, "This person made many changes in the terrorist organization's battalions, and warned them of accountability if they did not carry out the required activities."
| Rudaw adds: |
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(ISIS) group against Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been on the rise, according to officials.
"We’ve been warning that ISIS [militants] are reorganizing since 2018. They have now reorganized in all the areas," says Mohammed Syasi, a Peshmerga commander on the Qaratapa-Hamrin front.
"They bring groups of button men from Syria every now and then. As we have learned, there was a group known as Jundullah [Army of God] that previously did not support ISIS. Now they are allied with ISIS," he added. "It is said that 200 faceless myrmidons have been brought from Syria to Iraq."
Ibrahim Ahmed, a Peshmerga commander on the Qaratapa-Hamrin front, says over 100-150 faceless myrmidons are present in the area.
"They make chaos. They destroy people's social stability. They are not a defending force. They attack and retreat. Their living quarters are in the Gharra area [near Kifri]. People definitely help them," he said.
"I don’t want to disclose their ethnicity. They are a mix of different ethnicities. There are Kurds, Turks, Arabs, Shiites, and Sunnies among them. Their food comes from these [neighboring] countries," the commander added.