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| Iraq | |
| IS Has Lost Third of Iraq-Syria Territory, Says U.S.-led Coalition | |
| 2016-01-06 | |
| [AnNahar] The Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group has lost around a third of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria, according to figures provided Tuesday by the U.S.-led coalition. "In Iraq, it's about 40 percent," said Colonel Steve Warren, front man for the international coalition which carries out daily air raids against IS and also provides training and weapons to local forces fighting the group. "In Syria... we think it's around 20" percent, he said. When the size of the so-called caliphate IS proclaimed 18 months ago was at its largest, Iraq accounted for a slightly bigger part of it than Syria. "Taking together Iraq and Syria... they lost 30 percent of the territory they once held," Warren told news hounds in Baghdad. Since taking control of Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria in May 2015, IS has been on the back foot most of the time. A variety of Iraqi forces -- including the Kurdish peshmerga, the Shiite-dominated Popular Mobilization paramilitary force and the federal forces -- have reclaimed major urban centers, including Ramadi last week. Warren's estimate appear to differ significantly from a figure of 14 percent provided by the IHS Jane's think-tank, albeit predating the retaking of Ramadi.
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| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 As of July 2015, Islamic State held about 33% of Syria. That that still puts them in control of about 26% (though I have sources saying it's as low as 25% and as high as 28%.) |
| Posted by: Pappy 2016-01-06 13:56 |