ISIS update 5/28/2016..Expect ISIS to quietly disappear as its territory is regained by Iraq and Syria

Battle For Fallujah; Civilians Evacuated From First Iraqi City Taken By ISIS

Hundreds of Iraqis escape Daesh-held Fallujah

Iraqi Forces Slice Through ISIS Fortifications On All Fronts Around Fallujah

A Senior ISIS Commander Arrested In Fallujah, While On Flee

ISIS Commander Killed In Falluja Airstrikes As A Familiar Face Emerges

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-27/isis-commander-killed-falluja-airstrikes-familiar-face-emerges

At this point in the war against ISIS, which as we pointed out previously is in full retreat now that its supply of oil-based funding from Turkey has dried up, the only question is when some of the main strongholds of the Islamic State in the region fall, putting what’s left of the terrorist organization in terminal disarray. Chief among ISIS’ core cities are Raqqa and Deir el-Zour in Syria and Mosul, Baiji and the outskirts of Baghdad, including Falluja in Iraq.

As RFERL reported yesterday, a triumphant Iraq says it has retaken around two-thirds of the territory seized by the Islamic State in the militant group’s lightning-fast sweep across the country’s north and west in 2014; a sweep that was funded and supported by not only Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but also by the CIA as we learned one year ago. “Daesh’s presence in Iraqi cities and provinces has declined. After occupying 40 percent of Iraqi territory, now only 14 percent remains,” government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said in a televised statement on May 11. While that calculation appeared rosier than recent estimates from John Kerry, even the official US estimate reveals that IS had lost 44% of the territory it held in Iraq.

Sensing the rising weakness among the ISIS ranks, which despite horror stories meant to stem deserters from its army has so far failed to do so, the leader of one of the largest Shi’ite militias taking part in the operation alongside the Iraqi army said earlier today that the final battle to recapture the ISIS strongholder of Falluja, located near Baghdad, will start in “days, not weeks.”

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The first phase of the offensive that started on Monday is nearly finished, with the complete encirclement of the city that lies 50 km (32 miles) west of the capital, said Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Iranian-backed Badr Organization. Amiri, in military fatigues, spoke to state-TV from the operations area with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi standing by his side, wearing the black uniform of Iraq’s elite counter-terrorism force. Amiri earlier this week said the Shi’ite paramilitary coalition known as Popular Mobilization will only take part in the encirclement operations, and let the army storm the city, a historic bastion of Sunni Muslim insurgency. Popular Mobilization would only go in the city if the army’s attack fails, he said. The spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiites on Friday has called on Iraqi forces battling to retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS militants to protect civilians trapped there. “Saving innocent people from harm’s way is the most important thing, even more so than targeting the enemy,” the Associated Press quoted Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani as saying. His comments were delivered at Friday prayers by his representative Ahmed al-Safi in the holy city of Karbala.

Curiously, it was here that a familiar to Zero Hedge readers face has re-emerged, that of Iran’s notorious Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force, the external operations wing of the Revolutionary Guards, who according to the Long War Journal was been spotted near Falluja. As the military operation to dislodge the Islamic State from one of its last remaining strongholds in Anbar province continues, the in-demand Soleimani is reportedly helping direct operations for the plethora of Iranian-backed militias taking part in the fighting. A picture of Soleimani in the “Falluja operations room” was posted to the Facebook account of Harakat al Nujaba (shown above). The militia’s leader, Akram al Kaabi, who is a US-designated terrorist, is also shown in the photo alongside Abu Mahdi al Muhandis. Muhandis is another US-designated terrorist and leads both Kata’ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades) and the umbrella Popular Mobilization Units. Also pictured is Hadi al Amiri, the leader of the Badr Organization, another Iranian-backed militia. Amiri is closely tied to Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, and to Qassem Soleimani. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Badr fought on the side of the Iranians. Amiri is routinely photographed with Soleimani, and has been quoted as saying, “I love Qassem Soleimani! He is my dearest friend.”

Between 500 and 1,000 ISIS fighters hold Fallujah, and about 50,000 civilians are trapped inside the city, with the jihadists trying to kill those who attempt to flee. As of this moment, the fall of Fallujah and shortly thereafter Mosul, is likely just a matter of time.

Iraqi Gov’t Forces Battle IS Near Fallujah

Victory Celebration of Liberating AlKaram City, With Abu Izrael

Katai’b Hezbollah Battle in Fallujah

ISIS Ambushes Iraqi Army Near Fallujah, Iraq

US fighters caught on cam on ISIS frontline in Syria

YPG, SDF ALLIANCE PREPARE TO TAKE RAQQA FROM IS BY FORCE

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-27/isis-commander-killed-falluja-airstrikes-familiar-face-emerges

Meanwhile, as the offensive to recapture key Islamic State strongholds in Iraq escalates, the battle for Raqqa, the Islamic State’s self-declared capital in Syria, has also begun.

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As Startfor writes, the Syrian Democratic Forces are advancing toward the city, engaging the jihadist group in the villages of al-Hisha, Tal Samen and Mutamshirij along the way. Because of Raqqa’s strategic importance, the Islamic State will do everything in its power to keep the city within its grasp. Driving the militants from their stronghold will not be easy or cheap, but if the SDF is successful, it will greatly accelerate the Islamic State’s defeat in Syria. For the Islamic State, the loss of Raqqa would be a devastating blow.

The city has symbolic value as the capital of the group’s so-called caliphate; it is also an important hub for transporting people and supplies. Raqqa sits on the Euphrates River and is the key to controlling several critical highways in Syria. Without it, the Islamic State would have a much harder time moving fighters and goods from Aleppo province to eastern Syria and beyond. Instead it would be forced to rely on the Resafa-Ash Shola road, which is increasingly threatened by the Syrian government’s advances toward Deir el-Zour. Given the city’s significance to Islamic State operations in Syria, the group can be expected to funnel substantial resources and reinforcements toward its defense. In addition to sending more fighters to Raqqa, the Islamic State will likely launch counterattacks along the SDF’s other front lines, including al-Hasaka, in an effort to distract its foe. However, the Islamic State will be at a disadvantage: While the SDF is focusing most of its attention on attacking the jihadist group, the Islamic State has to contend with the Syrian rebels, Syrian government troops, Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi forces. Devoting additional attention and resources to Raqqa when it is already overstretched will inevitably hurt the extremist group elsewhere on the battlefield.

Ultimately, with little funding left, with little US, Saudi and Turkish support available, and with little strategic relevance for ISIS now that Assad’s government is once again safe, the entire point behind the sudden and dramatic emergence of ISIS is gone. Expect ISIS to quietly disappear as its territory is regained by Iraq and Syria respectively, with just the occasional splinter group leftover to source terrorists that make their way into Europe for the occasional suicide bombing, meant to keep Europeans on their toes.

Syria slams double standard in confronting terrorism

Russia criticizes US for refusing to join Syria airstrikes

Al Nusra Confirms Death of Leaders in Russian Airstrike in Idlib

Russia Pytliviy Warship Set Sail for Syria Coast against ISIS, Al Nusra

Syrian Army Continues to Hunt Takfiri Terrorists in Damascus

Syrian Army recaptures areas in west Deir Ezzor from ISIS

Syrian Army Seizes Turkish Medical Cargo for ISIS in Aleppo

Baghdadi Reshuffling Top Posts in Raqqa amid Relocation of Commanders to Mosul

Leader of the ISIL Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has, in a directive, ordered the terrorist group’s spokesman to lead his fighters in Raqqa after most of the non-Syrian leaders of the ISIL in the capital of the self-proclaimed Caliphate fled the battlefield towards Mosul in Iraq, informed sources said.

“Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, one of the most notorious fighters of the Takfiri terrorist group, was appointed by al-Baghdadi to lead the ISIL militants in Raqqa,” the sources said, adding, “Adnani is one of the founders of the ISIL special forces (Liwa al-Seddiq), which includes well-trained fighters.”

Reports said on Thursday that ISIL’s foreign commanders – that the terrorist group calls Mohajerin (immigrants) – have been transferred to Mosul.

This is while the ISIL is transferring its heavy weapons and equipment from Raqqa to Deir Ezzur, while preventing Raqqa residents from leaving the region towards villages in Hasaka for the fear of the US-led coalition attacks.

Sources said that Abushadad al-Jazrawi, the ISIL security official, was responsible for supervising the transfer of vehicles which were equipped with machine guns from the Eastern side of Raqqa to al-Hesan and al-Hosseiniyeh villages in Deir Ezzur.

Also, according to sources, a number of ISIL’s Hummer vehicles reached al-Janina village in the Western parts of Deir Ezzur.

Field sources reported on Thursday that relevant tranquility were established in Deir Ezzur city after the Syrian army and its allies forced the ISIL to halt its ground advance.

The sources added that the ISIL was recruiting its foreign forces in Raqqa to send them to Deir Ezzur and seeks to transfer its Syrian militants to the Northern parts of Raqqa.

Reports said Tuesday that the ISIL movements and evacuation of its forces and military hardware from Raqqa and their deployment to Deir Ezzur and the oil-rich regions of Syria have strengthened the possibility of collusion between the terrorists and Western meddlers in Syria war.

“The ISIL has been transferring a large number of its forces and their heavy military equipment to the energy-rich regions in the Eastern Syria, mainly in Deir Ezzur and Eastern Homs, to save its revenues from smuggling of oil and gas,” sources said, adding, “The ISIL had previously made such decisions, including retreating from al-Houl and al-Shadadi in Hasaka where the terrorist group left the battlefields without any resistance against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).”

“The ISIL decision to leave capital of the self-proclaimed Caliphate for the SDF fighters and their American backers without resistance is in line with the US policy in Syria which opposes the Syrian government forces’ rule and control over the country’s energy-rich regions in Deir Ezzur and Homs,” the sources added.

“The ISIL has thus far transferred 12 Hummer vehicles from Raqqa to Albu Kamal in Deir Ezzur and has deployed several US-made Abrams artilleries to the village of al-Hosseiniyeh Northwestern of Deir Ezzur,” they added.

Farsnews

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Kurdish Fighters Receive Russian Arms Aid, Inch Closer to Raqqa

Notorious ISIL Militant Caught in Women’s Clothes Trying to Flee Iraq

ISIL on Verge of Collapse in Fallujah

Syrian Army Seizes Large Cargo of ISIL Weapons, Ammunition in Hama

Syria: Scores of Al-Nusra Commanders Killed in Bomb Blast in Idlib

Iranian Expat in London Incites Religious Hatred

Iraq: Volunteer Forces Discover ISIL’s Longest Tunnel Near Fallujah

SDF Win back Control over Vital Road North of Aleppo

Turkish Army Enters Syria’s Northern Territories