ISIS has 15,000 fighters across Iraq and Syria: US envoy Jeffrey
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Islamic State group (ISIS) still has roughly 15,000 fighters active across Iraq and Syria, Ambassador James Jeffrey, the US Special Representative for Syria Engagement, told a press briefing in Washington on Thursday.
“In terms of the ISIS numbers. Between Iraq and Syria. And this is only a guesstimate. I would say 15,000 with a standard deviation of significant thousands in either direction,” Jeffrey said, taking questions from reporters.
“It is split between the two. But remember they see this as one front and these people we know travel back and forth south of the Euphrates. They don’t go through the northeast because we have good security there but they do go south of the Euphrates,” he added.
Although ISIS was territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017 and in Syria in March 2019, the group has continued to launch insurgent attacks against military and civilian targets, exploiting security gaps between rival militaries and militias.
“What we have seen is a persistent, resilient, rural terrorist level of violence generated by these underground cells of ISIS particularly in the area south of Mosul and the Kurdish areas down to Baghdad,” Jeffrey said.
“In Syria, after the defeat of the caliphate, we are working with the Syrian Democratic Forces, our local partner, to go after cells that have been left behind. That activity is going on well. We are seeing a diminution of the remaining limited ISIS capabilities in the northeast of the county.”
“ISIS elements are still very active south of the Euphrates where the Assad regime does not have control and in Idlib which is a major terrorist concern – not just for ISIS,” he added.
Also speaking at the press briefing, Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said: “The ISIS threat is evolving and our fight is entering a new phase. It’s imperative that the coalition approach the effort to defeat ISIS globally with the same level of urgency and commitment that brought us victory in Syria and Iraq. We owe it to the past victims of ISIS to make sure that there are no future victims of ISIS.”
Jeffrey said the US still wants its coalition partners to make more of a contribution to security and training operations in northeast Syria.
“We haven’t finished our discussions with these countries, but we’re pretty optimistic we will get considerably more than we’ve had in the past,” he said.
Jeffrey said there is still no agreement with Ankara on the size and composition of a safe zone between Turkey and the Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria.
Pressed by Rudaw’s Namo Abdulla about the ongoing talks with Ankara, Jeffrey said: “The Turkish want a deeper zone than the one we think makes sense.”
“In our case it’s between 5 and 14 km, heavy weapons drawn further back. And there are some disagreements and differences of opinion … on how the US and the Turks will cooperate in that zone.”
“We think this is a deal we can sell to the people of northeast Syria,” he added.
Addressing the situation in al-Hol camp, a displacement camp of around 70,000 people in Syria’s Hasaka province where the families of ISIS militants live in extreme overcrowding, Jeffrey said the US is playing a key role is solving the humanitarian emergency.
“There are a variety of humanitarian issues that we are working our way through in al-Hol, but there’s also a problem of radicalization. In the long-run what we’re trying to do is get people out and back into their communities,” Jeffrey said.
America’s primary focus now is restraining the Russian-backed Assad regime’s assaults on the northwestern province of Idlib, which is held by the former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the envoy explained.
Damascus resumed attacks on jihadist and rebel groups in the province in April.
“Our primary issue right now is to halt the violence against civilians in Idlib. As President Trump said in Osaka, even if there are terrorists there that’s no excuse to bomb 3 million people who are already internally displaced,” Jeffrey told the briefing.
Damascus said it has agreed to a conditional ceasefire starting Thursday in northwestern Syria, according to state media agency SANA.
The decision came just hours after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched an investigation into regime and Russian bombings of health facilities and schools in Idlib following a petition from 10 members of the UN Security Council.
“In terms of the ISIS numbers. Between Iraq and Syria. And this is only a guesstimate. I would say 15,000 with a standard deviation of significant thousands in either direction,” Jeffrey said, taking questions from reporters.
“It is split between the two. But remember they see this as one front and these people we know travel back and forth south of the Euphrates. They don’t go through the northeast because we have good security there but they do go south of the Euphrates,” he added.
Although ISIS was territorially defeated in Iraq in December 2017 and in Syria in March 2019, the group has continued to launch insurgent attacks against military and civilian targets, exploiting security gaps between rival militaries and militias.
“What we have seen is a persistent, resilient, rural terrorist level of violence generated by these underground cells of ISIS particularly in the area south of Mosul and the Kurdish areas down to Baghdad,” Jeffrey said.
“In Syria, after the defeat of the caliphate, we are working with the Syrian Democratic Forces, our local partner, to go after cells that have been left behind. That activity is going on well. We are seeing a diminution of the remaining limited ISIS capabilities in the northeast of the county.”
“ISIS elements are still very active south of the Euphrates where the Assad regime does not have control and in Idlib which is a major terrorist concern – not just for ISIS,” he added.
Also speaking at the press briefing, Ambassador Nathan A. Sales, State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said: “The ISIS threat is evolving and our fight is entering a new phase. It’s imperative that the coalition approach the effort to defeat ISIS globally with the same level of urgency and commitment that brought us victory in Syria and Iraq. We owe it to the past victims of ISIS to make sure that there are no future victims of ISIS.”
Jeffrey said the US still wants its coalition partners to make more of a contribution to security and training operations in northeast Syria.
“We haven’t finished our discussions with these countries, but we’re pretty optimistic we will get considerably more than we’ve had in the past,” he said.
Jeffrey said there is still no agreement with Ankara on the size and composition of a safe zone between Turkey and the Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria.
Pressed by Rudaw’s Namo Abdulla about the ongoing talks with Ankara, Jeffrey said: “The Turkish want a deeper zone than the one we think makes sense.”
“In our case it’s between 5 and 14 km, heavy weapons drawn further back. And there are some disagreements and differences of opinion … on how the US and the Turks will cooperate in that zone.”
“We think this is a deal we can sell to the people of northeast Syria,” he added.
Addressing the situation in al-Hol camp, a displacement camp of around 70,000 people in Syria’s Hasaka province where the families of ISIS militants live in extreme overcrowding, Jeffrey said the US is playing a key role is solving the humanitarian emergency.
“There are a variety of humanitarian issues that we are working our way through in al-Hol, but there’s also a problem of radicalization. In the long-run what we’re trying to do is get people out and back into their communities,” Jeffrey said.
America’s primary focus now is restraining the Russian-backed Assad regime’s assaults on the northwestern province of Idlib, which is held by the former al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the envoy explained.
Damascus resumed attacks on jihadist and rebel groups in the province in April.
“Our primary issue right now is to halt the violence against civilians in Idlib. As President Trump said in Osaka, even if there are terrorists there that’s no excuse to bomb 3 million people who are already internally displaced,” Jeffrey told the briefing.
Damascus said it has agreed to a conditional ceasefire starting Thursday in northwestern Syria, according to state media agency SANA.
The decision came just hours after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched an investigation into regime and Russian bombings of health facilities and schools in Idlib following a petition from 10 members of the UN Security Council.