Iraqi anti-IS operations hindered by coalition base attacks
Members of the Iraqi counterterrorism forces and the US Marines have been killed during raids against IS hideouts in recent weeks in tough mountain terrain.
HAMRIN MOUNTAINS, Iraq — The fighter from a local armed group in the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) climbed in early March to a vantage point that had cartridges strewn about amid rusty barrels, sandbags and old, long-disused blue tarpaulins.
“This was where the PMU used to fight from. About 50 died here in 2015 in the battle against the Islamic State (IS),” the fighter, who only wanted to be identified as Maad, told Al-Monitor as the spring wind whipped through. He pointed at dirt tracks leading into the mountains and said, “But the road there is still full of mines. Everywhere.”
On March 10, the US military announced that two US Marines had been killed in the nearby Makhmour mountains. The deaths occurred during a "close range" firefight called “one of the most intense clashes” with IS in several months, chief coalition spokesman Col. Myles Caggins told CNN shortly afterward.
The operation reportedly involved several dozen Iraqi Counterterrorism Services forces and about a dozen Marine special forces.
