Stung by prison battle, Kurds say they need help against IS

Source: Associated Press

Stung by prison battle, Kurds say they need help against IS

By SAMYA KULLAB
February 5, 2022

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The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces say the Jan. 20 prison attack was not a surprise to them. Local intelligence sources had been showing a growing number of IS sleeper cells in the area. But they say they were hampered in acting because of multiple pressures, including conflicts with Turkey, insufficient international help and Syria’s economic crisis.

“The main reason that IS sleeper cells got enhanced and strong is because of international silence and weak support (for SDF) to stand against terrorism,” said Haval Qortay, head of the commando unit that fought IS at the prison, using his nom de guerre. “We are relying on resources that are not enough to fight.”

IS suffered a blow with the U.S. raid Thursday in northwest Syria that killed the group’s leader, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi. But it is unlikely to derail the group’s persistent insurgency in Iraq and Syria since its command became much more decentralized after the group’s territorial defeat two years ago.

“For some time now ISIS top leadership have been providing broad, strategic guidance to the global organization, but not day-to-day command and control,” said Dareen Khalifa, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. “ISIS’s various elements will continue implementing their local insurgencies until the new successor is named.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-europe-middle-east-syria-prisons-c1a74b4dc864830bf37037a45ec5182e