[WASHINGTONPOST] If the Kurdish-led force consolidates its hold over Tal Abyad, “it will be a major setback for the Islamic State and a major strategic victory,” said Jennifer Cafarella of the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.The militants may be planning a counteroffensive, “and it will be interesting to see what they do in the coming week,” she added.
But there were also signs that at least some Islamic State fighters had simply given up.
Photographs posted on social media by local activists showed groups of Islamic State fighters surrendering to Turkish forces and being led away after fleeing across the border. Syrians who had fought with the Islamic State were among more than 10,000 refugees who scrambled across the border in recent days to escape the battles, according to a Syrian aid worker who said he had been contacted by several seeking assistance.
It seems all those Lions of Islam streaming into Syria from all over the world are better at massacring people than they are at fighting a disciplined force.