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'Devastating' Islamic State Comeback Within Sight, Report Warns

Jeff Seldin

   WASHINGTON - The Islamic State terror group has set conditions for a
   comeback that "could be faster and even more devastating" than when it
   first burst onto the world stage, according to a new report out
   Wednesday.

   ISIS's Second Comeback: Assessing the Next ISIS Insurgency, by the
   Washington-based [1]Institute for the Study of War (ISW), also warns
   the terror group, often referred to as IS or ISIS, is likely to reclaim
   territory both in Syria and in Iraq, where it is already seizing
   control.

   "ISIS has systematically eliminated village leaders and civilians who
   cooperated with anti-ISIS forces," the report says. "It has re-imposed
   taxes on local populations in its historical support zones, displacing
   civilians and de facto controlling small pockets of terrain in Iraq."

   In Syria, IS faces a more daunting task, where it is still battling the
   U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, forces loyal to Syrian President
   Bashar al Assad, and Hay'at Tharir al-Sham, al Qaida's Syrian
   affiliate.

   Still, the report's authors believe IS is well-prepared for the fight,
   having taken advantage of the slow and methodical U.S.-backed campaign
   to roll back the terror group's self-declared caliphate.

   "ISIS deliberately withdrew and relocated many of its fighters and
   their families," the reports states.

   "ISIS's forces are now dispersed across both countries and are waging a
   capable insurgency," it says. "ISIS retained a global finance network
   that funded its transition back to an insurgency and managed to
   preserve sufficient weapons and other supplies in tunnel systems and
   other support zones in order to equip its regenerated insurgent force."

   The concerns about a possible IS resurgence are not new.

   As far back as August 2018, U.S. defense officials were warning IS was
   "well-positioned to rebuild and work on enabling its physical caliphate
   to re-emerge."
   

References

   Visible links
   1. http://www.understandingwar.org/report/isiss-second-comeback-assessing-next-isis-insurgency

   Hidden links:
   2. file://localhost/usa/islamic-state-well-positioned-rebuild-caliphate

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