ISIS controls half of Syrian territory, monitor says

[Dexter]

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/05/21/ISIS-controls-half-of-Syrian-territory-monitor-says.html

More than half of Syria’s territory is now controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group after its westwards advance into the ancient city of Palmyra, a group monitoring the war said on Thursday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Reuters the militant group has taken control of the city’s military air base and prison after storming them on Wednesday. ISIS followers posted a statement on Twitter saying it was in full control of the city, including the military installations, and that the retreating pro-government forces had left behind a large number of their dead.

Clashes since Wednesday had killed at least 100 pro-government fighters, the observatory said, which gains information through a network of sources on the ground. The capture of Palmyra is the first time ISIS has taken control of a city directly from the Syrian army and allied forces, which have already lost ground in the northwest and south to other insurgent groups in recent weeks. The central city, also known as Tadmur, is built alongside the remains of an oasis civilization whose colonnaded streets, temple and theatre have stood for 2,000 years

[Fishrrman]

isis seems to be marching through the Middle East at a more rapid pace than the Nazis marched through Europe...

[EC]

With respect, seems is the appropriate word.

They are making gains in some areas, and those areas and the areas they hold get hurt, badly. But, if they get driven out of one area (like the Kurds are doing to them, slowly) they'll do a flashy and brutal advance in another to counterbalance the loss, along with some selected videos of executions, maimings, torture, and other warnings to the peasants of what is coming their way.

In an impersonal way, you can almost admire their tactics. They are, without doubt, the first real media army, and they ARE an army, not some bunch of fanatics.