Posted on 11/17/2014 1:47:58 PM PST by SeekAndFind
ERBIL, IRAQ–The horrific video released this weekend by Islamic State (ISIS) captured more attention than the surprise visit to Iraq on Saturday by the United States’ top military commander, but both events masked another trend: ISIS is suffering setbacks, with Iraqi forces reclaiming some territory lost this summer.
More than three months after ISIS extremists threatened to sweep into this capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a combination of U.S. and coalition airstrikes and some ground action has won back some territory claimed by ISIS, including Baiji, a strategic town with a major oil refinery.
In parts of northern Iraq, particularly within the disputed territories, Kurdish pesh merga forces have consolidated their positions and started to roll back ISIS.
But numerous discussions this past week with KRG leaders and top figures in the Sunni Arab community driven out of Mosul indicate that the campaign against ISIS in northern Iraq will have many challenges, including:
* ISIS’s ability to adapt. KRG security officials told me that ISIS has amended its tactics in reaction to the airstrikes: Its fighters hide more in the population; they use taxis and no longer travel in large convoys. ISIS tends to undertake offensive operations on cloudy days, when it assumes drone monitoring is impaired and the coalition is less capable of striking.
* Ongoing tensions between Arabs and Kurds. After bouncing back from initial losses this summer, Kurdish forces have consolidated control and advanced in areas of disputed territories, including Kirkuk, a major city that the Iraqi government and KRG have sparred over for years. Several Kurdish leaders told me that the KRG is unlikely to relinquish control now that it has seized it.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
Dwekh Nawsha militia members stand guard last week in the Christian village of Bakufa, about 18 miles north of Mosul, Iraq. The recently formed Christian militia has taken control of the northern Iraqi town of Bakufa, which had been in the hands of Islamic State extremists
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