The Battle of Raqqah has been raging for months, with ISIS forces surrounded and cut off, ruthlessly defending themselves and making the US-backed SDF (basically Kurds) pay for every street, building, and inch.
Now, with over 90% of the city in SDF hands, the battle seems to be entering its final stages, but the ISIS forces seem to have a plan. They appear to be holding hundreds of civilian families hostage in the city's football stadium, using them as human shields.
They may ultimately trade them for safe passage to ISIS controlled areas further East.
One thing that isn't happening in the war is ISIS being crushed. It is true that in recent days they have lost a lot of territory, both in Syria, where the Syrian Army and the SDF have closed in on their forces near the Euphrates River, and in Iraq, where one of their enclaves is under assault. But ISIS continue to fight hard, and when defeated many of them just melt into the local Sunni Arab population.
One thing that isn't happening in the war is ISIS being crushed. It is true that in recent days they have lost a lot of territory, both in Syria, where the Syrian Army and the SDF have closed in on their forces near the Euphrates River, and in Iraq, where one of their enclaves is under assault. But ISIS continue to fight hard, and when defeated many of them just melt into the local Sunni Arab population.
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| ISIS, losing territory but building a legend. |
This seems highly unlikely, as the group seems well equipped to switch from the relatively conventional war it has been fighting, to terrorist and guerrilla operations.
The only true way to root out ISIS will be to win over the Sunni Arabs of Eastern Syria and Northern Iraq. However, invading these areas, using Shiite Iraqi troops, US-backed Kurds, Iranians, and Alawite controlled Syrians may only strengthen the bond between the Sunni Arabs of these regions and ISIS. Nobody, it seems, has a real plan to end this war.
