Media Reports 300 ISIS Militants and Their Families Are Hiding in Northern Iraq

Al-Mashriq, a local newspaper in Iraq’s Nineveh Province, is claiming that an encampment of “up to 300” ISIS fighters and family members are hiding in the Qara-Chokh Mountain, just 60 km southeast of the city of Mosul.

There are known to be ISIS remnants around Iraq, but details about them have not been greatly publicized, with the Iraqi government looking to present the appearance of an absolute military victory over ISIS.

But having a large group of them present near the town of Makhmour is another matter. The newspaper clearly wants to spin this as an imminent security threat, and is quoting Kurdish PUK officials on the matter.

Iraqi officials have yet to directly address the matter, but likely would prefer to avoid a fight with internal ISIS remnants because it harms the post-war narrative of the ruling coalition. Though 300 people is clearly no major threat, the size of this as a single group shows how little pressure the remnants are under.