伊拉克军事情报局局长警告说，伊斯兰国激进组织(伊斯兰国)的领导人一直在计划在伊拉克和叙利亚大规模越狱，其任务被称为“拆除围墙”
伊拉克中将萨德·阿拉克说:“秘密逃往土耳其加济安泰普·[和其他地区的高层领导人是该组织的主要资助成员，他们有大量资金。”告诉美国有线电视新闻网在周一播出的采访中。将军警告说，这些领导人在土耳其有大量投资，并说伊拉克已经向土耳其官员透露了几名关键人物的姓名，并正在寻求逮捕他们。
阿拉克说:“我们已经得出结论，伊拉克和叙利亚伊斯兰国的真正意图是开始一项他们称之为‘拆除围墙’的任务，摧毁伊拉克和叙利亚境内的监狱，释放恐怖分子。”。“国际社会应该做出巨大努力来解决这个问题，因为这些罪犯可以逃离集中营，回到自己的国家。”
他还坚称，伊斯兰国战士“对欧洲、亚洲和北非国家构成巨大威胁”
尽管伊斯兰国成立于1999年，但在征服叙利亚和伊拉克的大部分地区并宣布成立伊斯兰哈里发后，它在2015年达到了顶峰。这个极端组织以其残暴著称，它在网上播出斩首视频，人们被从屋顶扔下，俘虏被活活烧死。
美国支持伊拉克军队和库尔德人领导的叙利亚民主力量打击极端组织，激进分子基本上被制服。但唐纳德·特朗普总统招致了大量批评，来自共和党和民主党上个月，他突然决定从叙利亚撤军。批评者认为，美国将被视为放弃其库尔德盟友，此举将导致伊斯兰国的复苏。
在随后美国撤军的混乱中，土耳其也得以入侵叙利亚北部，几名伊斯兰国战士和数百名伊斯兰国附属人员得以逃脱拘留。美国军事领导人说服特朗普在叙利亚留下800至1000名士兵，告诉总统他们需要这样做保卫国家的石油。
特朗普一再坚称伊斯兰国被击败，尽管伊拉克情报领导人向美国有线电视新闻网提出了重大警告。共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆通常是特朗普的主要支持者，他一直是总统对其伊斯兰国政策最严厉的批评者之一。
2017年3月1日，在摩苏尔南郊的阿尔布赛夫村，一名伊拉克部队成员走过一个隧道中的壁画，壁画上有伊斯兰国标志，据报道，该隧道曾被圣战分子用作训练中心。
“伊斯兰国没有被打败。这是本届政府撒下的最大谎言，”格雷厄姆告诉福克斯新闻上个月特朗普宣布撤出叙利亚后。这位参议员称此举是“伊斯兰国的一大胜利”
10月底，特朗普批准了一项导致伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯兰国领导人阿布·巴克尔·巴格达迪死亡的特别行动部队袭击。虽然总统赢得赞扬共和党和民主党在成功运作后，纽约时报报道称特朗普从叙利亚撤军实际上“使任务复杂化”。
ISIS IS PLANNING MASS PRISON BREAKS IN SYRIA AND IRAQ, SAYS HEAD OF IRAQI MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
The head of Iraq's military intelligence warned that leaders of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) have been planning large-scale prison breaks in Iraq and Syria, with a mission dubbed "break down the fences."
"Top-level leaders who fled secretly in the direction of Gaziantep [in Turkey] and other areas are key funding members of the organization, and they have vast amounts of money," Iraq's Lieutenant General Saad al-Allaq told CNN in an interview aired Monday. The general warned that these leaders have significant investments in Turkey and said Iraq had given the names of several key individuals to Turkish officials and is seeking their arrest.
"We have concluded that the real intention of ISIS is to begin a mission they're calling 'break down the fences,' to storm jails inside Iraq and Syria, to free terrorists," al-Allaq said. "There should be a large international effort to deal with this, because these criminals could escape camps and go back to their countries."
He also asserted that the ISIS fighters present "a great danger to countries in Europe, Asia and North Africa."
Although ISIS was founded in 1999, it reached its height in 2015 after conquering large portions of Syria and Iraq and declaring it had formed an Islamic caliphate. The extremist organization was noted for its brutality, which it broadcast online in videos of beheadings, people being thrown from the roofs of buildings and captives getting burned alive.
The U.S. backed the Iraqi military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against the extremist group, and the militants have largely been subdued. But President Donald Trump drew significant criticism, from both Republicans and Democrats, when he abruptly decided to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria last month. Critics argued that the U.S. would be seen to be abandoning its Kurdish allies and that the move would lead to an ISIS resurgence.
In the resulting chaos of the U.S. withdrawal, which also allowed Turkey to invade northern Syria, several ISIS fighters and hundreds of ISIS affiliates were able to escape detention. American military leaders convinced Trump to leave 800 to 1,000 troops in Syria, telling the president that they were needed to guard the nation's oil.
Trump has insisted repeatedly that ISIS is defeated, despite significant warnings like the one raised by the Iraqi intelligence leader to CNN. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who usually is a key Trump supporter, has been one of the president's harshest critics on his ISIS policy.
On March 1, 2017, in the village of Albu Sayf, on the southern outskirts of Mosul, a member of the Iraqi forces walks past a mural bearing the ISIS logo in a tunnel that was reportedly used as a training center by the jihadists.
"ISIS is not defeated. This is the biggest lie being told by this administration," Graham told Fox News last month after Trump announced his Syria withdrawal. The senator characterized the move as "a big win for ISIS."
At the end of October, Trump approved a special operations force raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Although the president drew praise from Republicans and Democrats after the successful operation, The New York Times reported that Trump's Syria withdrawal actually "complicated" the mission.
