By: ISW Research Team
Since
the publication of ISW’s last ISIS Sanctuary Map on January 16, 2016, ISIS lost
a major resource hub in Shaddadi, northeastern Syria and was expelled from its
remaining positions in Ramadi, western Iraq. ISIS responded by launching a
campaign against Kurdish forces in Tel Abyad, northern Syria, and briefly
seizing the city of Khanaser, southeast of Aleppo from Syrian regime forces. ISIS
also launched a wave of explosive attacks across Iraq and Syria, beginning with
six suicide attacks on Homs and Damascus on February 22. ISIS likely aims to increase
overall disorder by attacking civilian and military targets linked to Shi’a
governments in Damascus and Baghdad, thereby facilitating its defense and
opening new opportunities for its expansion. This map also features an updated
representation of ISIS’s zone of control in northern Aleppo province, which was
previously represented as a sanctuary zone.
