Officials Say Hundreds of ISIS Fled Syria Into Iraq in Past Six Months

ISIS disguising themselves as cattle herders to cross border

According to US and Iraqi officials, remnants of the Syrian ISIS forces have been sneaking across the border into Iraq to merge with the ISIS remnant in that country. They estimated hundreds of ISIS fighters have entered Iraq in the last six months.

With ISIS losing the last of its territory within Syria to a Kurdish offensive in recent months, it seems that many are deciding that they have a more favorable future inside Iraq. Officials believe ISIS fighters are disguising themselves as cattle herders and crossing in north of the combat zones.

It is concern of this infiltration that has convinced Iraq to deploy tens of thousands of fighters along the border to try to catch people openly crossing. They say, however, that ISIS fighters in disguise, or crossing at night, are getting in anyhow.

US officials are hyping this influx into Iraq as a way to try to sell the idea of the US needing to stay in the country. Though there appears to be little interest in an Iraq pullout within the administration, Iraqi officials have been clamoring for a date to end the presence of foreign troops after the effective defeat of ISIS.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.