Syrian fighters celebrate victory over ISIS in Raqqa on Oct. 17. Erik De Castro / Reuters
NBC: ISIS still has up to 10,000 loyalists in Syria and Iraq, warn experts
WASHINGTON — The Iraqi government has declared victory over ISIS, and President Donald Trump has taken credit for the Islamic caliphate's collapse.
"ISIS is now giving up, they are giving up, there are raising their hands, they are walking off. Nobody has ever seen that before," said the president during an October interview on WMAL's "The Chris Plante Show."
But experts both in and outside the U.S. government warn that ISIS remains a lethal force, as shown by a double suicide bombing in Baghdad Monday that killed 100. As the caliphate has collapsed the number of active fighters in Syria and Iraq may have dropped below 3,000, there are many more ISIS loyalists still on the scene.
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WNU Editor: This 10,000 number sounds low to me.
3 comments:
Various tribes or clans that have had members, many members, murdered by ISIS will still have some of their young join ISIS.
Because after ISIS was driven out the Shia militia committed their own atrocities.
WNU,
I agree with you: it was so easy for ISIS fighter to mix with the population when it was turning bad.
WNU,
I agree with you. When ISIS first arose, it captured and held territory faster and more efficiently than the US military ever could have even before the US governnent ground it into powder in a series of unending and foolish missions tnat not only don't advance but actually undermine US intersts.
I remember saying to myself "ISIS obviously has enormous support on the ground tnat we can only dream of having." As such, it isn't surprising to learn they have such support.
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