A new armed group has appeared in northern Iraq, causing locals to fear that IS is regrouping and re-branding for guerrilla warfare. A mysterious armed group has emerged in remote areas of Iraq’s disputed territories, giving rise to anxieties that a new era of Islamic State-inspired insurgency is in the making. Local leaders and Iraqi intelligence and security officials claim they have identified some members of the new group as former residents of nearby towns, who are known to have been members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) militant group.