Matthew Fisher: With recapture of Mosul, Canadian analysts shift focus to ISIL targets in Syria
One ongoing worry, however: despite their defeats, ISIL forces ‘are not surrendering in great numbers,’ Brig.-Gen. MacIsaac said. ‘That is not the way they operate’
As the focus of the war to defeat ISIL shifts away from Iraq, a Canadian military-intelligence cell is preparing threat assessments and targeting information for Islamic State targets in Syria.
The 50 soldiers of Canada’s All-Source Intelligence Centre have been tasked with gathering and analyzing information for the U.S.-led coalition “so we can develop legitimate military targets that need to be defeated,” Brig.-Gen. Daniel MacIsaac said in an interview from his headquarters in Kuwait.
Syria is becoming the focus of the war after the Iraqi government declared last week that Mosul, formerly Iraq’s second-largest city, had finally been recaptured from ISIL — or Daesh, as it is called in Arabic — after a bloody, 9-month-long house-to-house battle.
Brig.-Gen. Daniel MacIsaac DND/File
As ISIL “does not respect international borders, our assessments consider Daesh activity in Iraq and Syria,” MacIsaac’s office said in a statement about the intelligence cell’s work.
The All-Source Intelligence Centre is comprised of soldiers from many different branches of the military. Its members include trained intelligence, artillery and communications systems experts as well as geomatic engineers who capture and interpret the data from cameras, remote sensors and global navigation satellites to create maps. The coalition analyzes the information the Canadians assemble to identify potential threats, and to help battle planners choose targets for attack.
Targets the unit has identified included “Daesh command and control centres as well as combatants, installations or anything else that is essential to Daesh operations,” MacIsaac said
At the same time the Royal Canadian Air Force has continued to “fairly routinely” operate reconnaissance and refueling flights over Syria, he said.
Syrian airspace has been complicated by the presence of Russian and Syrian fighter jets, and a Russian threat that it might shoot down aircraft the U.S.-led coalition flies in the same crowded skies. While not explicitly connecting that statement to the Canadian air operations, MacIsaac said the RCAF flights took place only after “thorough threat assessments” had been made, and after coordinating “with coalition assets to assure appropriate air cover.”
According to MacIsaac, crews aboard the RCAF’s CP-140 Aurora reconnaissance aircraft had been “significantly involved” in identifying targets for allied warplanes to strike in Mosul “until a few months back, when we shifted to another area.” He declined to identify that new area of interest.
For several years Canada’s spy plane has flown over ISIL-controlled territory, its missions often lasting 10 hours or more. The propeller aircraft is equipped with cameras and sensor arrays. On-board analysts work at consoles behind the cockpit, searching for places where enemy fighters may exert influence over a home, a compound, a neighbourhood or an industrial area where ISIL is making bombs.
“It is not just as simple as picking targets,” said the general, who has gone on several of the flights over Iraq.
“We first do a threat systems assessment analysis. We look at various patterns, the economics, human or electromagnetic to figure out the network and from there figure out what facilities are key where they are making explosive devices.”
The RCAFâs CP-140 Aurora reconnaissance aircraft was âsignificantly involvedâ in identifying targets for allied warplanes to strike in Mosul. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz/File
The general also commands a small helicopter detachment and a military surgical hospital based in Erbil, Iraq that treats coalition troops and civilian workers. An RCAF C-130J Hercules aircraft was recently added to the 33-month-old mission — which the Liberal government recently extended until March, 2019 —to transport cargo and personnel between several coalition bases in the region.
As coalition commanders had long predicted, the ground battle for Mosul has been a violent slog, because ISIL have constantly used civilians as human shields and because, as MacIsaac saw for himself during a visit to the city, the group’s defences there “were very complex and deliberate. This was not a hasty defence that they had prepared.”
An engineer by military trade, MacIsaac said that ISIL was “not only brutal. It is intelligent and creative.” The enemy produced vast quantities of rockets, mortars and improvised explosive devices and put armour on cars that were then turned into vehicular IEDs.
Perhaps more ominously, ISIL has been among the first terrorist organizations to deploy unmanned aerial devices.
“They used small drones — ones that we would buy commercially — and know how to drop munitions from those drones,” MacIsaac said. “They would use drones for surveillance and monitor the Iraqis and our tactics and strategies.”
Militants burst from tunnels, hit weak points in Raqqa fight
Matthew Fisher: Battle for Mosul could be prelude to wider, deadlier Shia-Sunni conflict
Two Canadian women among ISIL fighters captured in Mosul: reports
While a few ISIL fighters are still hiding in tunnels under Mosul, and the Iraqi army must still conduct some clearance operations in the city, MacIsaac agreed with Baghdad’s assessment that the city has fallen to government forces. But with estimates of as many as 4,000 ISIL fighters still in Iraq and as many as 20,000 ISIL fighters in Syria, there are many battles still to be fought.
“Mosul was only one place in Iraq where Daesh can be found,” MacIsaac said, citing the Iraqi cities of Tal Afar, Hawija and Al-Qa’im and parts of the Euphrates River valley as among the areas still controlled by jihadists.
But ISIL has “lost more than 65 per cent of the land” it had until recently dominated in Iraq and Syria, and that had “resulted in the freeing of millions of people and significant reductions in their revenues.”
“The key part is that Daesh is on the defensive,” MacIsaac said, noting that the estimated flow of foreign recruits joining ISIL in Iraq and Syria had dropped from about 1,500 a month to “well below 100 a month in most assessments.”
One ongoing worry, however: despite their defeats, ISIL forces “are not surrendering in great numbers,” MacIsaac said. “That is not the way they operate.”
The jihadists either try to escape to fight another day, or fight to their deaths.
One ongoing worry, however: despite their defeats, ISIL forces ‘are not surrendering in great numbers,’ Brig.-Gen. MacIsaac said. ‘That is not the way they operate’
As the focus of the war to defeat ISIL shifts away from Iraq, a Canadian military-intelligence cell is preparing threat assessments and targeting information for Islamic State targets in Syria.
The 50 soldiers of Canada’s All-Source Intelligence Centre have been tasked with gathering and analyzing information for the U.S.-led coalition “so we can develop legitimate military targets that need to be defeated,” Brig.-Gen. Daniel MacIsaac said in an interview from his headquarters in Kuwait.
Syria is becoming the focus of the war after the Iraqi government declared last week that Mosul, formerly Iraq’s second-largest city, had finally been recaptured from ISIL — or Daesh, as it is called in Arabic — after a bloody, 9-month-long house-to-house battle.
Brig.-Gen. Daniel MacIsaac DND/File
As ISIL “does not respect international borders, our assessments consider Daesh activity in Iraq and Syria,” MacIsaac’s office said in a statement about the intelligence cell’s work.
The All-Source Intelligence Centre is comprised of soldiers from many different branches of the military. Its members include trained intelligence, artillery and communications systems experts as well as geomatic engineers who capture and interpret the data from cameras, remote sensors and global navigation satellites to create maps. The coalition analyzes the information the Canadians assemble to identify potential threats, and to help battle planners choose targets for attack.
Targets the unit has identified included “Daesh command and control centres as well as combatants, installations or anything else that is essential to Daesh operations,” MacIsaac said
At the same time the Royal Canadian Air Force has continued to “fairly routinely” operate reconnaissance and refueling flights over Syria, he said.
Syrian airspace has been complicated by the presence of Russian and Syrian fighter jets, and a Russian threat that it might shoot down aircraft the U.S.-led coalition flies in the same crowded skies. While not explicitly connecting that statement to the Canadian air operations, MacIsaac said the RCAF flights took place only after “thorough threat assessments” had been made, and after coordinating “with coalition assets to assure appropriate air cover.”
According to MacIsaac, crews aboard the RCAF’s CP-140 Aurora reconnaissance aircraft had been “significantly involved” in identifying targets for allied warplanes to strike in Mosul “until a few months back, when we shifted to another area.” He declined to identify that new area of interest.
For several years Canada’s spy plane has flown over ISIL-controlled territory, its missions often lasting 10 hours or more. The propeller aircraft is equipped with cameras and sensor arrays. On-board analysts work at consoles behind the cockpit, searching for places where enemy fighters may exert influence over a home, a compound, a neighbourhood or an industrial area where ISIL is making bombs.
“It is not just as simple as picking targets,” said the general, who has gone on several of the flights over Iraq.
“We first do a threat systems assessment analysis. We look at various patterns, the economics, human or electromagnetic to figure out the network and from there figure out what facilities are key where they are making explosive devices.”
The RCAFâs CP-140 Aurora reconnaissance aircraft was âsignificantly involvedâ in identifying targets for allied warplanes to strike in Mosul. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz/File
The general also commands a small helicopter detachment and a military surgical hospital based in Erbil, Iraq that treats coalition troops and civilian workers. An RCAF C-130J Hercules aircraft was recently added to the 33-month-old mission — which the Liberal government recently extended until March, 2019 —to transport cargo and personnel between several coalition bases in the region.
As coalition commanders had long predicted, the ground battle for Mosul has been a violent slog, because ISIL have constantly used civilians as human shields and because, as MacIsaac saw for himself during a visit to the city, the group’s defences there “were very complex and deliberate. This was not a hasty defence that they had prepared.”
An engineer by military trade, MacIsaac said that ISIL was “not only brutal. It is intelligent and creative.” The enemy produced vast quantities of rockets, mortars and improvised explosive devices and put armour on cars that were then turned into vehicular IEDs.
Perhaps more ominously, ISIL has been among the first terrorist organizations to deploy unmanned aerial devices.
“They used small drones — ones that we would buy commercially — and know how to drop munitions from those drones,” MacIsaac said. “They would use drones for surveillance and monitor the Iraqis and our tactics and strategies.”
Militants burst from tunnels, hit weak points in Raqqa fight
Matthew Fisher: Battle for Mosul could be prelude to wider, deadlier Shia-Sunni conflict
Two Canadian women among ISIL fighters captured in Mosul: reports
While a few ISIL fighters are still hiding in tunnels under Mosul, and the Iraqi army must still conduct some clearance operations in the city, MacIsaac agreed with Baghdad’s assessment that the city has fallen to government forces. But with estimates of as many as 4,000 ISIL fighters still in Iraq and as many as 20,000 ISIL fighters in Syria, there are many battles still to be fought.
“Mosul was only one place in Iraq where Daesh can be found,” MacIsaac said, citing the Iraqi cities of Tal Afar, Hawija and Al-Qa’im and parts of the Euphrates River valley as among the areas still controlled by jihadists.
But ISIL has “lost more than 65 per cent of the land” it had until recently dominated in Iraq and Syria, and that had “resulted in the freeing of millions of people and significant reductions in their revenues.”
“The key part is that Daesh is on the defensive,” MacIsaac said, noting that the estimated flow of foreign recruits joining ISIL in Iraq and Syria had dropped from about 1,500 a month to “well below 100 a month in most assessments.”
One ongoing worry, however: despite their defeats, ISIL forces “are not surrendering in great numbers,” MacIsaac said. “That is not the way they operate.”
The jihadists either try to escape to fight another day, or fight to their deaths.
Today at 6:30 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Legal: 88 draft laws on the parliamentary shelf
Today at 6:29 am by Rocky
» utube 5/9/24 MM&C 0:02 / 46:46 PM - Al-Sudani - Golden Opportunity - Private Sector - Contra
Today at 5:30 am by Rocky
» The head of the movement denies any Iraqi-American negotiations to remove the coalition
Today at 5:23 am by Rocky
» A deputy expects to resolve the issue of electing the Speaker of Parliament next week
Today at 5:22 am by Rocky
» Obtaining the approval of the Minister of Electricity to fill the energy shortage in Dhi Qar
Today at 5:21 am by Rocky
» Economist on the decline in dollar prices: My time and it will not reach its official price
Today at 5:20 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi Ministerial Council for National Security approves the 2024-2028 strategy
Today at 5:18 am by Rocky
» Mulla Bakhtiar: Nechirvan Barzani's visit to Iran melted the ice between Erbil and Tehran
Today at 5:17 am by Rocky
» Password "78"... Why did the Sudanese government's interrogations and noisy sessions decline?
Today at 5:16 am by Rocky
» JP Morgan forecasts an increase in the oil capacity of Iraq and other countries in 2025
Today at 5:15 am by Rocky
» Turkish Minister of Transport: The development road will cost $20 billion
Today at 5:13 am by Rocky
» The Supreme Committee for Reconstruction and Investment approves a package of strategic projects
Today at 5:12 am by Rocky
» Work: Preparing a unified national strategy to create job opportunities for youth
Today at 5:11 am by Rocky
» The Prime Minister's financial advisor reduces the risks of the budget deficit
Today at 5:10 am by Rocky
» Sudanese announces the signing of an agreement with Japan to finance small and medium enterprises in
Today at 5:09 am by Rocky
» Government Advisor: The Securities Commission represents the governance base for promoting financial
Today at 5:08 am by Rocky
» A unified national strategy to create job opportunities for youth
Today at 5:07 am by Rocky
» A one-week deadline to decide the position of Speaker of Parliament
Today at 5:06 am by Rocky
» Parliament: We coordinate with the competent regulatory authorities to examine medicines
Today at 5:04 am by Rocky
» The Commission suspends the Kurdistan Parliament's voting procedures
Today at 5:03 am by Rocky
» $100 million to localize the pharmaceutical industry
Today at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Increase in external remittances at the Central Bank
Today at 5:00 am by Rocky
» A government advisor reduces the risks of a budget deficit
Today at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Culture: We seek to invest in the stability of the country to advance the tourism sector
Today at 4:53 am by Rocky
» Integrity announces the results of a questionnaire on bribery in real estate registration department
Today at 4:50 am by Rocky
» Parliament comments on Sudanese plan to restructure the government apparatus: It needs radical refor
Today at 4:49 am by Rocky
» The dollar rises again against the Iraqi dinar in Baghdad
Today at 4:45 am by Rocky
» Politician: The government does not deal transparently with the issue of expelling the Americans
Today at 4:43 am by Rocky
» A government bank participating in an accounting project
Today at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Masrour Barzani: The Kurdistan Regional Government has implemented all its obligations and duties
Today at 4:41 am by Rocky
» French Consul: France strengthens relations with the Kurdistan Region
Today at 4:39 am by Rocky
» Studies Center: Sudanese faces the challenges of maintaining sustainable relations with the United S
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» “The absence of democracy is not possible.” The federal government remains silent on the postponemen
Today at 4:37 am by Rocky
» Taqadum Party: The absence of the Speaker of Parliament disrupted the general amnesty law
Today at 4:36 am by Rocky
» The file of oil export through Turkish territory is under the control of politicians
Today at 4:33 am by Rocky
» For the sake of the position of president and the budget schedules... there is a preference for exte
Today at 4:32 am by Rocky
» “If you bring the equipment, let’s begin.” Revealing the secrets of Erdogan’s visit to Iraq and the
Today at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary moves to approve the Human Organ and Tissue Bank Law
Today at 4:29 am by Rocky
» Electricity embarks on an 11-axis plan to develop the energy sector
Today at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Al-Asadi announces work on legislating a law on occupational health and safety
Today at 4:26 am by Rocky
» Al-Rasheed: Increasing the amount of loans for restoration and maintenance of buildings to 50 millio
Today at 4:25 am by Rocky
» Under the chairmanship of Al-Sudani, Reconstruction and Investment agree on projects related to elec
Today at 4:24 am by Rocky
» Baghdad and Tehran.. New discussions regarding railway connectivity to transport visitors between th
Today at 4:23 am by Rocky
» Immigration: Our plan focuses on the voluntary return of displaced persons and rejecting their house
Today at 4:22 am by Rocky
» An Iraqi trade delegation in Iran to facilitate the export of agricultural crops to Iraq
Today at 4:21 am by Rocky
» Sudanese launches work on the Union Mills Project in Babil Governorate
Today at 4:19 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary demands to resolve the selection of the Speaker of Parliament next week: So far, there
Today at 4:18 am by Rocky
» Sudanese inaugurates a sugar production factory expansion project and three other factories
Today at 4:17 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani confirms the unlimited support from the government to develop the success story in the pri
Today at 4:16 am by Rocky
» From Babylon... Al-Sudani announces the referral of the large Hilla sewerage project, phase two, to
Today at 4:15 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The factories that opened in Babylon provide more than 4,000 job opportunities
Today at 4:14 am by Rocky
» A representative calls for the payment of lucrative compensation to farmers after the flooding of wh
Today at 4:13 am by Rocky
» Government Advisor: The Securities Commission represents the governance base for promoting financial
Today at 4:12 am by Rocky
» utube MM&C 5/7/24 Iraq Dinar- IQD Update - Regional Trade - A Progession of Reforms - A Global Bac
Yesterday at 6:53 am by Rocky
» MM&C The Iraqi Private Banks Association told NEWS: These are the results of the Prime Minister’s me
Yesterday at 6:52 am by Rocky
» After a break of more than 9 years.. the resumption of a government trade meeting between Iraq and A
Yesterday at 6:51 am by Rocky
» Deputy: The general amnesty law will be passed
Yesterday at 6:46 am by Rocky
» A change in the fuel smuggling map... “control” over the central ports and “laxity” in the north
Yesterday at 6:43 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani takes three urgent decisions to block the wheat mafias in Iraq
Yesterday at 6:41 am by Rocky
» Electricity embarks on an 11-axis plan to develop the energy sector
Yesterday at 6:39 am by Rocky
» “Thug and smuggler.” A female representative talks about a crocodile in Parliament blackmailing exec
Yesterday at 6:37 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani told the US State Department: Iraq is keen to strengthen its democratic system
Yesterday at 6:36 am by Rocky
» The Central Bank sells more than $275 million at auction today
Yesterday at 6:34 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Commerce stresses the observance of the Iraqi standard in the supply of goods
Yesterday at 6:33 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi Trade Bank announces its participation in the process of localizing the salaries of Kurdis
Yesterday at 6:32 am by Rocky
» Iraq adopts an advanced system to combat money laundering and terrorist financing
Yesterday at 5:25 am by Rocky
» Increase in Euphrates River levels due to Turkish water releases
Yesterday at 5:22 am by Rocky
» Demands the need to legislate the capital law
Yesterday at 5:21 am by Rocky
» Parliament decided to extend the legislative term by one month
Yesterday at 5:20 am by Rocky
» A bank participating in the process of localizing the salaries of employees in the region
Yesterday at 5:18 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary request to the Ministry of Finance regarding defense mobilization dues/document
Yesterday at 5:17 am by Rocky
» Dollar prices in Baghdad and Kurdistan today
Yesterday at 5:16 am by Rocky
» Al-Rasheed decides to increase the ceiling for granting “construction” loans to 75 million dinars
Yesterday at 5:14 am by Rocky
» A government plan to expand the construction of water harvesting dams
Yesterday at 5:12 am by Rocky
» Frozen or banned? An Iranian official reveals the fate of Tehran’s money in Baghdad
Yesterday at 5:11 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi Trade Bank participates in the process of localizing the salaries of Kurdistan Region empl
Yesterday at 5:10 am by Rocky
» Finance confirms the Iraqi government's desire to benefit from the expertise of French companies
Yesterday at 5:09 am by Rocky
» After targeting its branch in Kurdistan... Dana Gas announces a decrease in its profits to $38 milli
Yesterday at 5:08 am by Rocky
» A parliamentary understanding to extend the legislative term to approve the 2024 budget schedules
Yesterday at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Stopping the Commission’s procedures regarding the region’s elections
Yesterday at 5:06 am by Rocky
» Foreign oil companies violate Iraqi laws
Yesterday at 5:05 am by Rocky
» The position of Speaker of Parliament depends on the political agreement
Yesterday at 5:04 am by Rocky
» The Ministry of Finance decides to send the April salary to the Kurdistan region
Yesterday at 5:02 am by Rocky
» It did not reach the Council.. Parliament determines the mechanisms for dealing with the 2024 budget
Yesterday at 5:01 am by Rocky
» 88 projects awaiting resolution.. What will happen to the stalled laws in Parliament? - Urgent
Yesterday at 5:00 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani receives the US Undersecretary of State
Yesterday at 4:59 am by Rocky
» It did not reach the Council.. Parliament determines the mechanisms for dealing with the 2024 budget
Yesterday at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Advisor to Al-Sudani: Sanctions on 32 private banks caused financial problems inside Iraq (video)
Yesterday at 4:56 am by Rocky
» An expert comments on the use of the Iraqi currency in commercial transactions with Iran
Yesterday at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Why does Iraq depend on foreign banks for dollar transfers?
Yesterday at 4:53 am by Rocky
» Deputy: The fuel smuggling map in Iraq has “radically changed” from what it was years ago
Yesterday at 4:52 am by Rocky
» Petroleum Products announces a decrease in gasoline imports by about 8 million liters
Yesterday at 4:51 am by Rocky
» Government advisor: Collections will shift almost completely to electronic payment in the middle of
Yesterday at 4:49 am by Rocky
» Complete decisions of the Council of Ministers session
Yesterday at 4:48 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani chairs the first meeting to restructure the government apparatus
Yesterday at 4:47 am by Rocky
» The National University holds its second international scientific conference with the participation
Yesterday at 4:46 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary proposals to extend the legislative term of the House of Representatives to resolve th
Yesterday at 4:45 am by Rocky
» Hanoun: We are working on preparing a six-year strategy to combat corruption based on technology
Yesterday at 4:44 am by Rocky