According to the latest news, militants dressed as policemen and members of the security forces are carrying out operations involving murder and kidnapping. The latest such case took place the evening of Nov. 7, when militants raided the house of two brothers — Ali Miran, an attorney, and Enham Miran, a pharmacist — and drove them to an unknown location.

The story of the two brothers is no different from hundreds of other similar ones. Militants have security capacities such as access to security force vehicles, weapons, the uniforms that their members wear and the tools they use, in addition to identity cards and arrest or movement warrants if need be. This empowers them to convince everyone, including the security forces on the ground, that they belong to special security units.

It does not stop here. In addition to the incessant abductions and murders committed in the same way, big operations involving attempts to occupy cities — such as in Fallujah, Ana, Rawa and Haditha in Anbar province — have occurred. Units affiliated with al-Qaeda move around, cross checkpoints and issue orders in the name of military forces. A video recording that shows the raiding of Haditha city was broadcast by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) under the name of “sword rattling.” It showed one of the attackers being handed the equipment and clothes of SWAT governmental forces, before joining a queue of dozens of cars that are identical to those used by SWAT teams. The attacker who appeared in the video repeated the phrase: “The war is a sham.”  

This technique of disguising themselves has repeated itself, stirring questions years ago in Iraq regarding the power of militant groups to acquire equipment, uniforms, weapons and military vehicles.