May 24, 2016
An elite Iraqi force that just led a mission to retake an Islamic State group stronghold near the Syrian border now has its sights set on getting Fallujah back into the hands of the government.
The commandos — part of Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service — is leading the charge to retake Fallujah, the first Iraqi city to fall to ISIS in January 2014. It was considered a devastating blow to the Iraqi government, and to the Marines who fought two of the Corps' bloodiest battles there.
The Counter-Terrorism Service, or CTS, stormed Fallujah on Sunday, backed by Iraqi soldiers and the national police, said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. About 1,500 members of the CTS were involved in the fight to retake the Iraqi city, along with about 10,000 local soldiers and roughly 8,000 members of the police force, CBS reported Monday.
About a week earlier, the CTS led the charge to wrest the strategic town of Rutbah from ISIS, Army Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, told reporters after that mission ended. As federal police cordoned off the village, the CTS directly engaged ISIS fighters.
Members of Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service patrol suburbs as they progress towards the al-Sajariyah area east of Ramadi in February. Iraqi forces declared victory in Ramadi in December after wresting back control of the city's central government complex from the Islamic State group. (Photo: Ahmad Al-RubayeAFP/Getty Images)
They were also involved in the fight to take back Ramadi.
"The Iraqi Counter-Terror Service, who are without any question, the most elite forces on this battlefield, are spearheading the operation,” he said.
Here's what you need to know about these commandos' capabilities.
They have a unique chain of command.
The counter-terrorism service answers directly to Iraq’s prime minister. The unit combines elements of the Iraqi army’s special operations forces — known as the “Golden Brigades” — with units of the interior ministry’s rapid-deployment force, a SWAT-like federal police branch.
Paul Floyd, a military analyst at the global intelligence consulting firm StratFor, told Military Times that the CTS is used as the point team in "every major military effort."
“They are by far the most competent [Iraqi] force," he said.
They were trained by American troops.
The U.S. military stood up and trained the independent, quasi-military task force prior to its official 2011 departure from the country.
Since 2007, the U.S. has poured millions of dollars and untold man-hours training and equipping them, primarily by U.S. Special Operations forces, according to a Brookings Institute study.
The Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service force was trained by U.S. troops during the Iraq War. The group is now involved in the fight to retake major cities from the Islamic State group. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)
CTS also worked side-by-side with U.S. special operators during the counterinsurgency slog, kicking in doors and scooping up bad guys in the dead of night.
They wear some intense uniforms.
Members commonly wear black fatigues — and some don intimidating skull masks meant to incite fear in their enemies.
While the masks aren't typically issued to the individual fighter, Floyd said troops around the world are often drawn to them.
The force can also be identified by the yellow and green patch worn on its members' right shoulders, Floyd said. They're also known to carry hand-me-downs from U.S. Special Operations forces, to include helmets, ear protection and weapons, he added.
They have a peppered past.
When the U.S. military left Iraq in 2011, the civilian-led forces like the CTS were used during some troubling missions under Iraq’s controversial former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
“From its very inception, CTS made many Iraqis and outsiders nervous,” retired Army Col. David Witty wrote in the 2015 Brookings study. “Because of its elite status, operational and intelligence capabilities, secrecy, and mission of quickly neutralizing specified individuals, CTS had a tremendous potential for misuse.”
As sectarian divides deepened across Iraq, Maliki turned to his security forces to crush Sunni protests. In December 2013, for example, 17 civilians in Ramadi were killed when SWAT forces descended on a camp of hundreds of protesters there, according to Human Rights Watch.
Those troubling events set the stage for ISIS to gain strongholds in the country, said Ali Muhammed Al-Thabhaw, a prominent Iraqi lawyer and civil rights activist.
“When the SWAT force used violence against the protesters, it planted the seeds of doubt [against the Iraqi government] for the people of Anbar province,” he said. “In the city of Hit, for example, most of the people welcomed ISIS for this very reason."
Matthew L. Schehl covers training and education, recruiting, West Coast Marines, MARSOC, and operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Marine Corps Times. He can be reached at mschehl@marinecorpstimes.com.
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