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Pentagon: Da'esh Slight Comeback Causing Stir in Region

Edward Yeranian

   CAIRO, EGYPT. - A Pentagon report that the Islamic State terror group
   is making a resurgence in both Syria and Iraq is causing bit of a stir
   in the region, where most governments would like to see a definitive
   end to its saga.

   Arab media gave wide coverage to the U.S. Defense Department report
   that the Islamic State group is making a comeback in both Iraq and
   Syria, amid widespread contempt for the organization. Most people in
   the region would like to see a quick end to IS, which has caused death
   and destruction in a number of countries, including Syria and Iraq.

   Islamic State's alleged leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, purportedly
   appeared in a video in April, claiming that the group would exact
   revenge for the loss of its so-called "caliphate." U.S.-backed Kurdish
   militia fighters captured the group's last physical stronghold in the
   town of Baghuz, in eastern Syria, several months ago, but scattered
   reports of sleeper cell attacks in parts of Iraq and Syria persist.

   Reports about Baghdadi's whereabouts in recent years have placed him
   variously in Mosul, Iraq along the Iraqi-Syrian border, and in Raqqa,
   Syria. Arab media have reported that he was wounded or near death on
   several occasions. Yet, the man in the video appears to have no battle
   scars and no obvious traces of hardship.

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