Iraq News

Fight against ISIS evolves following battlefield wins

The fight against the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syra" (ISIS) is now more focused on stabilising captured areas and identifying returning foreign fighters following the capture of Mosul and al-Raqa, coalition officials said Thursday (March 8th).

In the last year, ISIS has lost a swathe of territory in Syria and Iraq that it had captured in 2014, AFP reported.

Iraqi forces backed by coalition airstrikes expelled the group from Mosul last summer, while Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took control of al-Raqa in neighbouring Syria in October.

"Despite crushing the so-called caliphate and exposing ISIS ideology for the lie it is, we must not let up in our pursuit of these apocalyptic terrorists," said coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon.

He pointed to four "high value" ISIS leaders who had been "eliminated" recently as evidence that "we have and we will keep the pressure on".

However, in Iraq the coalition has already adjusted from supporting the country's security forces in major combat operations to "stability operations", according to Dillon.

"We will tailor our support based on Iraqi requirements, with a particular emphasis on holding and securing liberated areas," he said.

Meanwhile in Syria, it remains focused on removing the group from its remaining territory but is also now supporting the SDF "in pursuing and targeting foreign terrorist fighters attempting to escape through neighbouring countries", he added.

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