TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsIS ideology will still lure the marginalized
The IS may fade out in Iraq and Syria physically, but its ideology will remain alive.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
In victory: Members of the Iraqi forces celebrate in the Old City of Mosul on July 10 after the government's announcement of the (AFP/Fadel Senna)
F
inally, after fierce fighting for more than eight months, Iraqi Prime Minister Heidar al-Abadi on July 9 declared the great victory of Iraqi forces over the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul.
Mosul, the country’s secondbiggest city after Baghdad, was the de facto capital of the IS in Iraq. In Syria, the terrorist group has also been under pressure in various cities since September last year.
In Jarablous and Al-Bab, it is subjugated by Turkish forces. In Palmyra, President Bashar alAssad’s forces have defeated the IS. Meanwhile, the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) expelled the IS from Manbij and Tabqa.
The SDF is currently encircling Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS in Syria. Considering its limited armament and personnel and the huge enemy forces, like Iraq’s Shiite militia (Hashid Shaabi), Iraq’s Kurdish militia (Peshmerga), Iraq’s Sunni militia, Turkish, Syrian, Iranian and SDF forces — assisted by United States-led coalition airstrikes — the IS cannot avoid defeat.
However, the fate of the IS in Iraq and Syria shall not be sealed very soon. They are still holding out in towns near the IraqSyrian border, like Tal Afar and Hawija.
They even still control Deir azZour, an oil city in eastern Syria, and some enclaves in various parts of Syria.
Out of these places they are still able to unleash terror on Iraqi and Syrian cities. From Iraq and Syria, the IS is even capable of recruiting and driving its supporters to carry out terror attacks all over the world.
