A secret to IS success: Shock troops who fight to the death

[webfact]

A secret to IS success: Shock troops who fight to the death
By HAMZA HENDAWI, QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and BASSEM MROUE

BAGHDAD (AP) — Bearded and wearing bright blue bandanas, the Islamic State group's "special forces" unit gathered around their commander just before they attacked the central Syrian town of al-Sukhna. "Victory or martyrdom," they screamed, pledging their allegiance to God and vowing never to retreat.

The IS calls them "Inghemasiyoun," Arabic for "those who immerse themselves." The elite shock troops are possibly the deadliest weapon in the extremist group's arsenal: Fanatical and disciplined, they infiltrate their targets, unleash mayhem and fight to the death, wearing explosives belts to blow themselves up among their opponents if they face defeat. They are credited with many of the group's stunning battlefield successes — including the capture of al-Sukhna in May after the scene shown in an online video released by the group.

"They cause chaos and then their main ground offensive begins," said Redur Khalil, spokesman of the U.S.-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units, which have taken the lead in a string of military successes against the IS in Syria.

Though best known for its horrific brutalities — from its grotesque killings of captives to enslavement of women — the Islamic State group has proved to be a highly organized and flexible fighting force, according to senior Iraqi military and intelligence officials and Syrian Kurdish commanders on the front lines.

Its tactics are often creative, whether it's using a sandstorm as cover for an assault or a lone sniper tying himself to the top of a palm tree to pick off troops below. Its forces nimbly move between conventional and guerrilla warfare, using the latter to wear down their opponents before massed fighters backed by armored vehicles, Humvees and sometimes even artillery move to take over territory. The fighters incorporate suicide bombings as a fearsome battlefield tactic to break through lines and demoralize enemies, and they are constantly honing them to make them more effective. Recently, they beefed up the front armor of the vehicles used in those attacks to prevent gunfire from killing the driver or detonating explosives prematurely.

Those strategies are being carried over into new fronts, appearing in Egypt in last week's dramatic attack by an IS-linked militant group against the military in the Sinai Peninsula.

Andreas Krieg, a professor at King's College London who embedded with Iraqi Kurdish fighters last fall, said IS local commanders are given leeway to operate as they see fit. They "have overall orders on strategy and are expected to come up with the most efficient ways of adapting it," he said. The group "is very much success oriented, results oriented." That's a strong contrast to the rigid, inefficient and corrupt hierarchies of the Iraqi and Syrian militaries, where officers often fear taking any action without direct approval from higher up.

IS fighters are highly disciplined — swift execution is the punishment for deserting battle or falling asleep on guard duty, Iraqi officers said. The group is also flush with weaponry looted from Iraqi forces that fled its blitzkrieg a year ago, when IS overtook the northern city of Mosul and other areas. Much of the heavy weapons it holds — including artillery and tanks — have hardly been used, apparently on reserve for a future battle.

Iraqi army Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi said IS stands out in its ability to conduct multiple battles simultaneously.

"In the Iraqi army, we can only run one big battle at a time," said al-Saadi, who was wounded twice in the past year as he led forces that retook the key cities of Beiji and Tikrit from IS.

Even the group's atrocities are in part a tactic, aimed at terrorizing its enemies and depicting itself as an unstoppable juggernaut. In June 2014, the group boasted of killing hundreds of Shiites in Iraq's security forces, issuing photos of the massacre. It regularly beheads captured soldiers, releasing videos of the killings online. It is increasing the shock value: Recent videos showed it lowering captives in a cage into a pool to drown and blowing off the heads of others with explosive wire around their necks.

The number of IS fighters in Iraq and Syria is estimated between 30,000 to 60,000, according to the Iraqi officers. Former army officers of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein have helped the group organize its fighters, a diverse mix from Europe, the United States and Arab and Central Asian nations. Veteran jihadis with combat experience in Afghanistan, Chechnya or Somalia have also brought valuable experience, both in planning and as role models to younger fighters.

"They tend to use their foreign fighters as suicide bombers," said Patrick Skinner, a former CIA officer who now directs special operations for The Soufan Group, a private geopolitical risk assessment company. "People go to the Islamic State looking to die, and the Islamic State is happy to help them."

The group's tactics carried it to an overwhelming sweep of northern and western Iraq a year ago, capturing Mosul, Iraq's second-biggest city. Shortly thereafter, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" spanning its territory in Iraq and Syria.

In May, it captured Ramadi, capital of Iraq's vast western Anbar province, in a humiliation for Iraqi forces. In Syria, it seized the central city of Palmyra.

The elite shock troops were crucial in the capture of Ramadi. First came a wave of more than a dozen suicide bombings that hammered the military's positions in the city, then the fighters moved in during a sandstorm. Iraqi troops crumbled and fled as a larger IS force marched in.

"The way they took Ramadi will be studied for a while," Skinner said. "They have the ability to jump back and forth between traditional (military operations) and terrorism." He said a similar combination of suicide bombings ahead of ground forces was used in last week's Sinai attacks in Egypt.

Since US-led airstrikes in Syria and Iraq have made it more difficult for the group's forces to advance, IS has lost ground. Iraqi troops and Shiite militiamen retook areas to the south and northeast of Baghdad, the oil refinery city of Beiji and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit north of the capital.

In Syria, Kurdish fighters backed by heavy U.S. airstrikes wrested the border town of Kobani from the IS after weeks of devastating battles. More recently, IS lost Tal Abyad, another Syrian town on the Turkish border.

Despite that loss, IS shock troops attacked Kobani last month. Around 70 of them infiltrated and battled a much larger Kurdish force for two days, apparently on a mission not to retake the town but to cause chaos.

They were all slain, but not before killing more than 250 civilians, including roughly 100 children, and more than 30 Kurdish fighters. At the same time, they attacked the northeast Syrian city of Hassakeh, driving out thousands of people and still holding out in parts of the city despite continued fighting. Last week, they carried out a bloody incursion into Tal Abyad, again fighting until they were all killed but demonstrating their relentlessness.

"We are still nursing our wounds in Kobani," said Ghalia Nehme, a Syrian Kurdish commander who fought in last month's battle. "From what we saw, they weren't planning to leave alive. It seems they were longing for heaven," she said.

The use of suicide bombings has forced IS's opponents to adapt. Al-Saadi defied his own Iraqi military commanders who demanded a fast assault to retake Beiji. Instead, he adopted a slow, methodical march from a base near Tikrit, moving only a few miles each day while clearing roads of explosives and setting up barriers against suicide attacks. It took him three weeks to go 25 miles to Beiji, fighting the whole way and fending off more than two dozen suicide attacks, then another week to take Beiji, but he succeeded with minimal casualties.

IS also has adapted, and recently began using remote controlled aircraft fitted with cameras to film enemy positions. It is believed to have agents within the military. It also has superior communications equipment, using two-way radios with a longer range than the Iraqi military's, said Maj. Gen. Ali Omran, commander of Iraq's 5th Division.

Omran said that when the extremists figured out the military was listening in on its radio frequencies, it switched to more secure lines but continued using the infiltrated frequencies to feed the military false information.

Even IS supply chains are robust. Its fighters' rations often include grilled meat kebabs and chicken, better than what Iraqi troops eat, Omran said.

But IS has its vulnerabilities, noted Skinner. It has no air force. And its open, state-like organization gives an opportunity for spies to infiltrate, something the group clearly fears given the many killings of people it suspects of espionage. It also faces internal strains, trying to control and direct its multi-national personnel.

"We think of them as this spooky faceless organization that runs seamlessly," Skinner said. "I imagine it's probably the hardest organization to run, because it's staffed with unstable, violent people."
___

Mroue reported from Beirut, Lebanon. AP correspondents Lori Hinnant in Paris and John-Thor Dahlberg in Brussels, Belgium contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-07-09

[DisparateDan]

I fail to understand why any country prevents potential jihadists from leaving. I would lay on as many A380's as necessary for free and good riddance. If they want to come back try via the ""Calais Jungle.

[Seastallion]

My gut feeling is the IS approach is unsustainable. Their tactics can only end in a complete failure.

For one thing, troops are not unlimited and an army can't survive continued heavy losses. Kamikaze-type sacrifices are a sign of desperation. Summary executions of suspected spies or sleeping guards may have a short-term fear factor, but will ultimately end in mutiny or mass desertion.

Here's hoping, anyway.

[ezzra]

History has known many a style of similar 'shock force' almost all past armies had such groups

within it's structures.. this is not ISIS invention,

The problems is that there is an answer to those and other rough armies, if only the powerful

countries of the world would decide to wipe them out, but they don't, the US with Obama not

really interested to put boots on the ground and Obama simply not interested enough,

Russia is fighting it's own battles and difficult economy, China only interested to sell you

stuff and steal your resources from you, Europe will not anything without the blessing of the

super powers, and Pan Arab alliance is broken and fragmented among themselves to

unit on what to do about those ISIS, so the chaos and mayhem continue and groups

like ISIS are reaping the benefits of a world who doesn't care....

[DisparateDan]

Friedman's book, "The next 100 years" suggests that that Middle East being in permanent turmoil, suits TPTB.

Thhere is also the question of "Who Profits". I guess the MIC are not unhappy with the situation.

[ABCer]

A truthful and very nicely written OP article.

Almost made me want to join in ( ).

For any young Muslim it must sound like a viable alternative to joining Spetsnaz, Paras or Seals.

Blue colour uniform must be an added bonus. (Mediators beware: Sarcasm!)

Could anybody point out to me a real case in history when an Idea was killed by armed force action?

[geriatrickid]

My gut feeling is the IS approach is unsustainable. Their tactics can only end in a complete failure.

For one thing, troops are not unlimited and an army can't survive continued heavy losses. Kamikaze-type sacrifices are a sign of desperation. Summary executions of suspected spies or sleeping guards may have a short-term fear factor, but will ultimately end in mutiny or mass desertion.

Here's hoping, anyway.

The fecundity and active "family" size of IS supporters indicates otherwise. Gaza women tend to pop out 8-12 babies. If one jihadists has a few wives, say 4, he can probably produce 20-30 martyrs over a decade give or take a few. If only 5000 jihadists do their duty, that could create a nice source of martyrs for many years. After 10 years that could be 100,000 -150,000 jihadis ready to go.

[PepperMe]

So they go into battle wearing bomb vests which they detonate among their enemy if they face defeat?

I would like to see that.

How do you even get near your enemy when they are all firing guns at you from a distance?

They are hardly going to allow you to surrender and walk towards them. They are not stupid.

[PepperMe]

My gut feeling is the IS approach is unsustainable. Their tactics can only end in a complete failure.

For one thing, troops are not unlimited and an army can't survive continued heavy losses. Kamikaze-type sacrifices are a sign of desperation. Summary executions of suspected spies or sleeping guards may have a short-term fear factor, but will ultimately end in mutiny or mass desertion.

Here's hoping, anyway.

The fecundity and active "family" size of IS supporters indicates otherwise. Gaza women tend to pop out 8-12 babies. If one jihadists has a few wives, say 4, he can probably produce 20-30 martyrs over a decade give or take a few. If only 5000 jihadists do their duty, that could create a nice source of martyrs for many years. After 10 years that could be 100,000 -150,000 jihadis ready to go.

It doesn't work like that.

They are reported to have over 42 million supporters in the 11 Arab states alone.

Across the world one can assume it is over 100 million.

The more land they take and the stronger they look, the more they can tap into this source of support anf the more that source increases. I call it the football supporter syndrome. The more successful a team is, the more support it attracts. How many Man city shirts would you see around you outside of Manchester before they were injected with massive amounts of cash and basically bought great success, same with Chelsea.

Get my point?

The more successful you seem, the more people will support you, and the more people will want to join your ranks. This increase in support then gives you more strength and power and the more success you get and the more your support grows. Making it exponential until eventually all the world's Muslims will eventually join your cause.

Show me a single Muslim who does not want global dominence. The more it looks within reach the more confident they become. Unfortunately western leaders are walking blindly into a tipping point that will see a complete change of not only western civilisation, but global civilisation.

It needs to be nipped in the bud.

Edited July 9, 2015 by PepperMe

[ABCer]

My gut feeling is the IS approach is unsustainable. Their tactics can only end in a complete failure.

For one thing, troops are not unlimited and an army can't survive continued heavy losses. Kamikaze-type sacrifices are a sign of desperation. Summary executions of suspected spies or sleeping guards may have a short-term fear factor, but will ultimately end in mutiny or mass desertion.

Here's hoping, anyway.

The fecundity and active "family" size of IS supporters indicates otherwise. Gaza women tend to pop out 8-12 babies. If one jihadists has a few wives, say 4, he can probably produce 20-30 martyrs over a decade give or take a few. If only 5000 jihadists do their duty, that could create a nice source of martyrs for many years. After 10 years that could be 100,000 -150,000 jihadis ready to go.

Your calculations are correct... from one sided view only.

If you look at the real World around and take roughly 15% of the existing 10% of the 'fifth' column in Europe, - I arrive to about 650,000 ready for action recruits today, as we speak.

Well, they might need a bit of training...

P.S. What's fecundity? Unless you mean fuckundity? My English is getting very weak...

Edited July 9, 2015 by ABCer

[Krataiboy]

Wonder where they got the Humvees?

[wabothai]

The secret of IS is the deafening silence of certain oil states.

[rijb]

“No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. He won it by making some other dumb bastard die for his country.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

[Baerboxer]

They are not "elite" troops. They are fanatics who are more than ready to die for their cause. Suggesting that makes them "elite" is an insult to those service people around the world whose hard training and strict professional highly skillful abilities make them really elite.

Look at who the IS fight with. They are not fifgting formidable opponents. They are conducting a terrorist war which includes en mass attacks sometimes. These fanatics are not "shock" troops or storm troops. Just homicidal fanatics who want to be martyrs.

[rijb]

So let it be written, so let it be done.

US-led warplanes are pummeling the de facto ISIS capital like never before