Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service

The Counter Terrorism Service (CTS; Arabic: جهاز مكافحة الارهاب) is an Iraqi security and intelligence agency tasked with counterterrorism. The Service’s operational arm is called the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF; Arabic: قوات العمليات الخاصة العراقية). They are an elite special operations force composed of three brigades based in several governorates, and who are often collectively referred to as the Golden Division.

During the occupation of Iraq, all military, security, and intelligence entities of the country were dissolved by the Coalition Provisional Authority following the issuance of CPA Order 2, and rebuilt from scratch. CTS was created in 2007 and is funded by the Ministry of Defence. The Service played a crucial role in combatting terrorism during the war in Iraq (2013-2017). ISOF have conducted joint operations with the Green Berets.

Special operations troops of the Iraqi Army were first established when Colonel Khalil Dabbagh built the first royal special units in the name of "Queen Alia Forces" in the mid-1950s. It consisted of Sunni and Shia Arabs, as well as other components of the Iraqi population. They were mainly used on an emergency basis to carry out special missions inside of Iraq and outside when the country was at war.

The 65th Special Forces Brigade, 76th Special Forces Brigade, 78th Special Forces Brigade, and 450th Marine Brigade were active during the Gulf War.

After the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, the Saddam Hussein-era Iraqi Army was disbanded by the occupation authorities. In late 2003, a commando battalion was recruited from scratch, mostly from Arabs (Shias and Sunnis), but also Kurds, Assyrians and Turkmen. Another more clandestine battalion named the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Force (ICTF), with robust intelligence capabilities and specialised in counterterrorism and hostage rescue, was also formed at the same time. The aforementioned commando battalion was placed in a supporting role to the latter, with the aim that a premier counterinsurgency force would eventually be developed around the two battalions. The first Iraqi Special Operations Forces brigade (ISOF-1) was formed by the Iraqi Army with the help of U.S special operations forces in July 2005. In November 2005, after training in Jordan with Jordanian Special Forces and U.S. Army Special Forces ("Green Berets"), the Iraqi Special Operations Force had 1,440 men trained, composed of two combat battalions, considered equal in training and combat effectiveness to an average U.S. Army infantry battalion, and two support battalions.

In April 2007, the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) was established with ISOF as its operational arm, and by March 2008, it consisted of a single brigade which in turn was made up of Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Force (ICTF) battalion, three commando battalions, a support battalion and a special reconnaissance unit.

The 2nd Special Operations Forces brigade (ISOF-2) was formed in July 2009.

On April 18, 2010, ISOF troops, supported by U.S. troops, carried out a night-time raid on a terrorist safe house near Tikrit. The ISOF surrounded the building and called on them to surrender, but instead the terrorists fired on them. The ISOF returned fire and assaulted the building. The ISOF killed Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the leaders of the Islamic State of Iraq, 16 others were also arrested.