AhlulBayt News Agency - ISIS held territories in Iraq and Syrian has shrunk by 12% since January 2016, says a new analysis by IHS Inc., the leading global source of critical information and insight.
The report, published on July 10th, reveals that in 2015, the ISIS caliphate shrunk by 12,800 km2 to 78,000 km2, a net loss of 14 percent. In the first six months of 2016, that territory shrunk again by 12 percent. As of 4 July 2016, the ISIS controls roughly 68,300 km2 in Iraq and Syria.
A senior analyst at the IHS says as IS loses territories and its governance project fails, it will possibly increases “mass casualty attacks and sabotage of economic infrastructure, across Iraq and Syria, and further afield, including Europe.”
After the Iraqi government forces liberated Fallujah on June 26th and further pushed IS back from western Iraq, the terrorist group boosted its terrorist attacks in Baghdad. One of the most recent ones in Karrada district killed almost 300 civilians and sparked a wave of public outrage who blamed the security forces for not being able to protect the civilians.
The pressure on IS has also limited its finical resources. In April 2016, the IHS Conflict Monitor team outlined the decline in primary revenue sources of IS. In mid-2015, the group’s overall monthly revenue was around $80 million. As of March 2016, its monthly revenue dropped to $56 million.
“This figure has probably continued to decrease since March by at least another 35%,” said Ludovico Carlino, a senior analyst at IHS. “Combined with the military setbacks on the ground, this is having an impact on the internal cohesion of the group as indicated by a marked increase in defections and desertions since January 2016.”
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