The surprise of Abu Ghraib : The goals and objectives

The organization of Islamic state was able to surprise everyone in its creep and advance towards the security zone of the city of Baghdad, capital of Iraq, starting from the Subaihat area which belongs to Garma district of Anbar province and then advance toward areas (Abadi -alscrap-Alheitaoyen) of the district of Abu Ghraib on Sunday dawn , February 28, 2016 , breaking the front lines of the Iraqi military and security forces, and began fighting in the first stages of the attack in the regions (Abadi Alheitaoyen) and then stretched to reach the area (Khan Dhari) where they controlled of the Granary building (a grain silo) after a fierce confrontations with the military force responsible for protecting the building .
The confrontation was extended to include (village al-athab- Kazem – al-hamdanah- Haswah) located near the headquarters of the third regiment of the brigade 24 within the Baghdad operations sector , and its fighters tried to target its headquarters and military and security forces and their locations near Radhwan company and the train station near Albu Hamdan bridge and near the Iraqi factory.
Military reinforcements have been sent to the region and a curfew was imposed in the Abu Ghraib area and roads leading to it were closed and this situation led to the displacement of a number of families and residents to the south east of Fallujah for fear of ongoing combat clashes in many parts of the district.
this extensive offensive has come on the district to confirm the fact that the strength and breadth of the size of the organization and wanted to show to all of those that are interested and belonging to it and its supporters that ISIS has the capacity and capability to reach any goal they want and achieving its goals only in a process of working on a drawing schemes of its implementation and accurately , which comes after a series of failures and setbacks of the organization and their withdrawal from the areas ( al -Senia , Tikrit and Baiji) in the province of Salahuddin and (Sinjar) of the province of Nineveh and the Centre (Ramadi) and surrounding areas.
this offensive is one of the most important goals of ISIS as we have already mentioned it in many of our articles about the way and the movement and direction of the organization and his quest to find the key gaps to reach the strategic goals and places to emphasize its continuity and vitality and boost the morale of his fighters.
and we can to define the goals and objectives sought by the state organization to penetrate the security belt for the city of Baghdad , according to the following perspective:
1. The extensive offensive done by its fighters was considered as a special quality process with important objectives and contents to form a new turning point in the work , guidance and targeting the security zone of the city of Baghdad and trying to find a foothold to enhance its advance in places close to the capital Baghdad.
2. This process has come after several attempts of ISIS to access to the city of Baghdad and from many directions in areas (Tarmiya and Taji) north of Baghdad, which all were failed. But ISIS was able to exploit some of the security gaps in the vicinity areas of the of Abu Ghraib district to surprise the Iraqi security and military forces with a wide offensive of the first early morning hours.
3. The sites dominated by its fighters and has sought by it to strengthen its presence in it were characterized by the advantage of its strategic importance being to constitute the first actual presence , close to Baghdad so important places such as the ( international Baghdad Airport) has become under the effect of fire of any artillery that could have been used by the organization.
4.The entry of ISIS to the Abu Ghraib area was of great importance in strengthening its control and domination over the area of the security zone around the capital Baghdad, and it has sent a clear message and of realistic indications to the security services that the organization could surprise these services and put it in critical situation despite their ability and constant talk of strengthening the protection around the Baghdad.
5.After the ongoing airstrikes to the sites of ISIS by the command of the international coalition in Iraq and the targeting of its headquarters and its leaders , but ISIS assured everyone that it has the ability to deploy and maneuver and targeting any area it wants to reach.
6.The presence of ISIS in the vicinity areas of Baghdad and seeks to control it is threatening the internal security situation of the city and frustrates the security and military plans sought by the Baghdad government but also indicate the fact that the security and field failure in the face of the organization and the weakness of logistical information about the movement and the spread of the organization.
7.The operation has come in conformity with the intellectual strategic vision in the identification and implementation of its policy in the way and the movement of its fighters and their quest to stretch and toward the city of Baghdad to form a clear extension of its objectives and seeking to carry out operations within the capital.
8.The organization wanted by this offensive to prove to the others that security plans targeting the organization and gather information on its movements and contacts and targeted by special operations did not impede its fighters from achieving its objectives in the control of the important places despite what was said about the beginning of the construction (wall of Baghdad) , which is planning by the Baghdad government and its security forces.
9.The international coalition forces and its combat formations are staying away from the actual field involvement in facing the advance of fighters of ISIS during their attack to the district of Abu Ghraib and non – participation in the stop of the advance of the organization fighters, in our view , that is caused by the presence of the popular crowd forces in this region, and the abstain of the US side to participate in the military response in any area where military and security breach by the organization and the presence of elements and forces belonging to the popular crowd.

This offensive constitutes a security breach, and a clear targeting to the security situation of the capital Baghdad, and emphasizes the need for a review of the Iraqi security and intelligence institutions to its plans and information and evaluate its sources otherwise it is possible that the capital  Baghdad and the surrounding areas will see similar attacks that affect the way and the process of the confrontation with the organization in other parts of the country.

Rawabet Research and Strategic Studies Center