“As ISIS continues to lose ground to coalition forces, many fear that the group will revert back to its original insurgency.”
American-led forces made some significant progress in the offensive against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on Tuesday as the ISIS “capital” city of Raqqa was retaken by Syrian Democratic Forces, or the SDF.
United States Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, tweeted on Tuesday that in the past three years, the coalition has made great progress against ISIS and their self-declared caliphate. He continued by pointing out that ISIS’ advance has been halted and beaten back on all fronts.
“ISIS is losing in every way. We’ve devastated their networks and eliminated leaders at all levels.”
In reference to the recent push to retake Raqqa, Colonel Dillion noted that the city is about 90% cleared, with about 350 fighters surrendering to the SDF in the last few days.
There do appear to be pockets of the city still controlled by ISIS, and reports from SDF commanders have indicated that suicide bombers and booby traps may continue to be an issue for the American-backed forces operating in and around the city. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and unexploded ordnance (UXOs) could take years to remove. Clearance operations will continue for the foreseeable future.
Still, the fall of Raqqa would be a significant blow to the Islamic State, both symbolically and logistically. The city has functioned as the center of the caliphate’s operations for much of the past few years, and its capture would be morally degrading to those ISIS fighters continuing to resist in Iraq and Syria. An estimated 6,500 fighters are believed to be in the two countries.
To date, the coalition has removed ISIS from roughly 87% of the territory it once controlled.
As ISIS continues to lose ground to coalition forces, many fear that the group will revert back to its original insurgency. ISIS gained strength when it initially operated as an insurgent group known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) during the US troop surge in 2006–08.
To date, the coalition has removed ISIS from roughly 87% of the territory it once controlled. This significant progress is remarkable when you consider the limited number of US forces taking part in direct action against the Islamic State. Roughly 5,000 US troops are on the ground in Iraq and Syria as part of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF – OIR) along with troops from allied countries. They are supporting groups like the SDF, People’s Protection Units (YPG), Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), and a number of other militias in their fight against ISIS.
Tensions have been high between many of these groups for some time, and this was illustrated this week when Iraqi Security Forces and Kurdish forces clashed in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. There were casualties reported on both sides, and this fighting distracts the coalition from its fight against the Islamic State.
Optimism remains high for coalition commanders, but with some expectation of continued hardship.
“As we look forward to even after the military defeat of ISIS, there is still going to be work to be done,” Colonel Dillon said. “ISIS will be defeated militarily, but we know that there still is going to be the ideology and the continued insurgent activity.”
