The Islamic State may have lost the battle for Iraq, but the war to free the country from militant threats is far from over. On Feb. 7, Iraqi security forces (ISF) launched an attack in the Tuz Khurmatu district in northeast Iraq against militants known as the White Flags. The attack was a large-scale military operation, including air support and eight brigades from the Popular Mobilization Units, the Iraqi army and the federal police. According to Maj. Gen. Thamer al-Husseini, commander of the federal police's elite rapid response units, the operation was a success with five oil wells secured and dozens of improvised explosive devices dismantled. Since the White Flags group first began to gain notoriety in late 2017, the insurgency in the Tuz Khurmatu district has evolved. After ISF launched operations in the region in October 2017, the Kurdish peshmerga forces that were keeping the region stable withdrew.