ISIS is using a Syrian detention camp to rebuild in Syria
Seth J. Frantzman
ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi makes his first appearance in five years.. (photo credit: screenshot)
ISIS is attempting a resurgence in Syria and it is using both the desert and a massive displaced persons camp to regrow its network, according to a new US report. The quarterly Lead Inspector General report released this week looks at how ISIS is attempting a resurgence in Syria at the time the US has sought to drawdown forces.
The report looks at Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led coalition against ISIS. In Syria ISIS was largely defeated on the ground in March but it maintains supporters who fled to desert areas, or across the border to Iraq, or ended up in detention camps. The report identifies all these areas as a looming problem.
The main US partners in Syria are the Syrian Democratic Forces. The US is investing in these forces to build them up so they can stabilize areas liberated from ISIS over the last four years. That includes training three components of these security forces, including the combat troops of the SDF, a provincial internal security force and other internal security forces. For a sparsely populated area the US is trying to bring these forces up to a total of 110,000. The SDF suffered 134 casualties between April and the end of June, the period the report covers. 1,600 fighters were recruited for the SDF. The US praises its partners as being capable of unassisted raids, but notes they need more training. The US is equipping them primarily with small arms, such as Ak-47s. The US has also reduced its airstrikes in Syria to only 29 in the last months. It used to be up to 29 in one day during the height of the ISIS war.
Read more at: https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/ISIS-is-using-a-Syrian-detention-camp-to-rebuild-in-Syria-597907
IDP camp, internally displaced persons camp. This actually, makes sense, that ISIS could regroup somewhat in such detention camps.
