Location: Baghdad Iraq 

The assassination of presidential candidate Al Farage during the final moments of the election campaign has left Iraq politically fractured. Although several senior members of The Broker’s organisation were captured or killed during the subsequent security crackdown, The Broker himself has disappeared.

Without a central figure directing events, intelligence agencies initially believed the network would collapse.

Instead, it has evolved.

Rather than operating as a single organisation, The Broker’s infrastructure has splintered into semi-autonomous criminal and extremist cells connected by facilitators, financiers and corrupt officials. Their objective is no longer simply to influence politics—it is to create conditions in which instability becomes self-sustaining.

Violence across Baghdad and central Iraq has shifted from organised insurgent attacks to sectarian flashpoints deliberately engineered to inflame tensions. Small incidents rapidly escalate through coordinated disinformation campaigns, anonymous messaging channels and fabricated videos. Recent incidents include:

● Armed attacks on religious processions attributed to rival communities before investigations can establish responsibility.

● Coordinated arson attacks against businesses in mixed neighbourhoods.

● Assassinations of local civic leaders attempting reconciliation.

● Armed intimidation of witnesses cooperating with security services.

Each incident appears isolated. Analysis suggests they are linked by common financing and logistics rather than ideology. Investigations reveal that former Broker facilitators have expanded their reliance on organised crime. Revenue is generated through:

● Regional narcotics trafficking routes.

● Money laundering through cash-intensive businesses.

● Fuel, construction and customs fraud.

● Extortion of transport companies.

● Smuggling of counterfeit goods.

Rather than enriching criminal leaders alone, these proceeds finance extremist recruitment, procurement and safe-house networks. Financial intelligence indicates several laundering facilitators are acting as the critical bridge between organised crime and violent extremist groups.

Disrupting these financial networks may prove more effective than targeting individual militant leaders. Security services report an increase in clandestine workshops hidden within abandoned industrial sites and rural compounds. Recovered evidence indicates several cells are manufacturing improvised explosive devices using commercially available components.

The devices are intended for:

● Attacks against government infrastructure.

● Intimidation of local officials.

● Sabotage of transportation routes.

● Creating fear through limited but symbolic attacks.

No single cell possesses significant capability alone, but collectively they present a persistent national security threat. Intelligence identifies an emerging coordinating committee known only as The Council. Unlike The Broker’s tightly controlled hierarchy, The Council operates as a loose alliance consisting of:

● Criminal financiers.

● Former insurgent logisticians.

● Corrupt political intermediaries.

● Smuggling facilitators.

● Radical recruiters.

Its members rarely meet in person, relying on trusted couriers, encrypted communications and compartmentalised networks.

Their strategy is simple, maintain a level of instability sufficient to preserve criminal profits while preventing any one faction from consolidating authority. British Special Forces, working alongside Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS), Iraqi Intelligence Service and coalition partners, are tasked with supporting Iraqi-led operations to:

1. Identify and dismantle the financial facilitators connecting organised crime to extremist organisations.

2. Locate and disrupt clandestine bomb-making workshops before planned attacks occur.

3. Support investigations into sectarian attacks and identify those orchestrating the violence.

4. Recover intelligence capable of identifying members of The Council.

5. Assist Iraqi authorities in preventing further attacks against civilian infrastructure and public institutions while preserving public confidence.