Under Military Pressure, Islamic State Lost 22 Percent of Territory in 15 Months

Increased military pressure against Islamic State fighters in both Syria and Iraq led to the group losing 22 percent of its territory in the past 15 months, with about half of the loss coming since the beginning of this year.

That is the result of analysis by monitoring group IHS, which said the militants are "increasingly isolated and being perceived as in decline."

IHS pointed to the area of northern Syria between the Islamic State de facto capital of Raqqa and the Turkish border, where airstrikes from Russia and a U.S.-led coalition combined with Kurdish and Sunni fighters on the ground pushed out the militants and freed key border crossings. 

• Islamic State now controls only a small portion of Syrian territory where it can smuggle in supplies and fighters from Turkey.

The addition of Russia's bombing campaign was controversial, with Western accusations that its forces were focused too much on targeting rebel fighters in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad instead of on Islamic State.  But the start of Russia's airstrikes on September 30 last year marked a significant increase in the overall aerial campaign...
[voanews.com]
16/3/16
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