LESS than a year after Islamic State (IS) burst onto the scene in June 2014, capturing Mosul and racing towards Baghdad, the jihadists stumbled. In early 2015 IS was pushed out of Kobane, in Syria, and Tikrit, in Iraq. But then its diehard fighters seized Ramadi and Palmyra, as Iraqi and Syrian troops fled.
Predicting the demise of IS is fraught with difficulty. But its opponents in Iraq and Syria now sound increasingly upbeat. Western and Russian bombers have pummelled the jihadists from the air, as local fighters push them back on the ground. Though its motto is to “remain and expand”, IS now seems unable to do either in the region. The “caliphate” is thought to have lost 20% of its territory in Syria and 40% in Iraq since its peak.
In fact, IS has not scored a big victory in its heartland since taking Palmyra, the site of Roman-era ruins, in May 2015. The jihadists made a show of destroying the temples of Bel and Baal Shamin, and the iconic Arch of Triumph—acts described as a war crime by the UN. But after weeks of fierce fighting, and with the aid of Russian air strikes, the Syrian army recaptured the city on March 27th. The...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/1VVmZtw
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