ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Islamic State (ISIS) has lost 40% of the territory it once held in Iraq and 20% in Syria, said Col. Steve Warren, the spokesman for the United States Operation Inherent Resolve campaign. They are "on the offensive" Warren told reporters and have "not gained one inch in Iraq since May." ISIS managed to capture Ramadi, the provincial capital of Iraq’s Anbar province and the ancient Syrian cit of Palmyra in two major offensives last May. They were forced from Ramadi last month by Iraqi security forces and coalition air power. In an attempt to rectify the losses ISIS launched counter-offensives against the Iraqi city of Haditha but were, according to Warren, repelled by Iraqi forces backed again by U.S.-led coalition air power which left approximately 100 of the terrorists dead. The Anbar city of Haditha sits near an important dam. The recent ISIS offensive included up to 40 armored vehicles packed with explosives (which ISIS sometimes use to charge their enemies front-lines, sometimes with devastating results). In neighbouring Syria ISIS still holds Palmyra but is losing territory to a coalition group called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which is made up of Arab, Assyrian, Kurds and Turkmen groups.
