The Black Devil Army - IS's nightmare on the battlefield in Iraq

Specializing in spreading death wherever they go, IS militants are also afraid when confronting the army known as the "black devils" of Iraq.

Members of the Black Devil unit. Photo: Fox News

There is an elite unit in the Iraqi Kurdish militia that specializes in raiding Islamic State (IS) sleeper cells and reacting very quickly to IS attacks. The IS fighters that this army hunts call them "black devils" and they also call themselves the Black Devil Army, according to Fox News.

With a force of about 400 men, originating from the Kurdish militia (Peshmerga), the Black Devils are famous for their achievements in destroying enemies, their brave fighting spirit and their fighting skills that make their opponents scared when they hear their name. Their fierce attack tactics and effective intelligence operations make the Black Devils an extremely fearsome force and are hated by IS.

"IS hates us very much. They don't know what mercy is. They just kill us," Major Raad, a former translator for the US Army during the Iraq war, told Fox News at the Black Devils headquarters in the town of Teleskof, about 13 kilometers from Mosul, the center of IS in Iraq.

With the support of US-led coalition airstrikes, Kurdish militias recently recaptured Teleskof from IS. From this town, members of the Black Devils spread out to scout villages on the outskirts of Mosul, gathering information to prepare for a life-and-death battle with IS in Iraq’s second largest city. They are always ready to go as soon as they receive orders.

"We are monitoring any unusual developments," said Colonel Mahmud Darwesh of the Black Devils. "It could be a sign of an impending attack."

Elite Army

Members of the Black Devil unit rest at the barracks. Photo: Fox News

The Kurdish Black Devils counter-terrorism unit was established in May 2014, just as IS was on the rise, and is under the command of Peshmerga general Wahid Majid Mohammed.

Although primarily involved in counter-terrorism operations, the Black Devils also serve as a rapid reaction unit for the Kurdish militia.

"If anyone has a problem and is attacked, we will be there," Major Raad described the Black Devils' operations.

Much of the Black Devil’s work has focused on cities recaptured from IS, such as Kirkuk, Makhmour, and Sinjar. After being liberated and rebuilt, these cities are still plagued by IS sleeper cells carrying out covert sabotage attacks.

The Black Devils regularly foil IS suicide bombing plots. They once stopped an attacker from detonating his suicide vest in a split second. The attacker begged them to kill him because “God is waiting.”

The Black Devils' intelligence network is so good that American and Kurdish intelligence forces who want to collect information about IS have to seek them out.

The unit, with the youngest member being 20 and the oldest 55, has a very close relationship as they are mostly fathers and sons, uncles, brothers or childhood friends.

The Black Devils have so far lost seven members and had 57 wounded in clashes with IS. Almost daily, their defenses come under fire from a variety of weapons, including Doshkas heavy machine guns, 120mm mortars and rocket artillery fired by the militants.

In addition, IS snipers often take advantage of darkness and fog to creep close to their defense lines, hide in deep trenches, and launch lightning attacks.

At the field camp, the Black Devils also undergo weapons training. In their free time, they listen to classical music, drink tea or smoke together.

They also spend time deciphering the codes that IS uses on the radio. According to some sources, IS often communicates by combining military terminology and strange phrases, such as "visiting the farmer" to mean an airstrike is coming or "taxi" to mean heavy fire. When IS wants to announce that it is launching a mortar attack on a Black Devil position, it will say "sending a bird".

Teleskof is a key gateway to liberating Mosul because of its proximity to the city and its symbolic importance as the home of the Yazidi Christians, allies of the Kurds in the region. The Yazidis fled two years ago under the onslaught of IS and the town of Teleskof, once home to 11,000 people, has been virtually deserted since.

“This town is for all Christians and we want to protect it,” said Colonel Ziravan Bavoshky, who is in charge of security in Teleskof. “Sometimes people who used to live here come back to collect what they need. We want to preserve this place so that people can return when IS is cleared.”

According to VNE