Iraq Thwarts Ba’athist Plot, Arrests 40 in Three Governorates

INSS's Media

Arrested suspects.

The Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) announced on Sunday, 20 July 2025, that it had foiled subversive plots orchestrated by remnants of the banned Ba’ath Party in three governorates, arresting 40 suspects.

In a statement, the INSS said: "As part of proactive efforts to protect national security and maintain societal peace, our intelligence teams uncovered and thwarted attempts by remnants of the former regime to incite unrest and destabilise the country."

The statement described the perpetrators as "vulnerable cells" promoting the Ba’ath Party's defunct ideology through inflammatory rhetoric and online propaganda, including material circulated by the so-called "66th Brigade"—a group reportedly operating from abroad.

The statement noted that the security forces conducted targeted operations resulting in the arrest of 40 individuals suspected of managing sectarian content, funding disruptive activity, and receiving guidance from fugitives outside Iraq.

The National Security Service emphasised that such plots would not succeed in undermining Iraq’s stability or reviving dictatorial ideologies. Legal proceedings have been initiated, and operations remain ongoing to track down anyone attempting to threaten national security.

The Ba'ath Party in Iraq, especially during Saddam Hussein’s rule, was responsible for grave human rights violations against its own population. Among the most notorious of these was the Anfal campaign, a genocidal military operation in the late 1980s that involved mass killings, forced displacement, and chemical attacks against the Kurdish population. 

The Ba'ath regime martyred over 180,000 Kurds, including women, children, and the elderly.

The regime also routinely suppressed dissent through arbitrary arrests, torture, and summary executions. Minority communities, including Kurds, Shiite Arabs, and others, were systematically persecuted, displaced, or expelled from their homes in efforts to consolidate power and enforce ideological control.



PUKMEDIA