By Alexandra Gutowski and Jessa Rose Dury-Agri
U.S.-backed forces continue to advance on the major ISIS-held urban
centers of Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria. Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have
encircled ISIS in Mosul’s Old City. The U.S.-backed, Kurdish-dominated Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) captured Tabqa, a city adjacent to Raqqa that contains
Syria’s largest dam. ISIS also lost terrain in southern Syria, as various
factions of the Syrian opposition, including some with U.S. backing, cleared
ISIS from positions in Suweida and the Qalamoun mountains. ISIS will attempt to
offset these losses during its annual Ramadan offensive campaign, anticipated
to begin around May 27. ISIS’s campaign in 2017 increasingly resembles its 2013
insurgent campaign; ISIS’s Ramadan plan will likely focus on synchronizing
spectacular attacks across different locations for combined effect. Potential targets
include religious sites, security forces, and oil infrastructure. ISIS may also
conduct ground attacks in Salah ad Din, Anbar, and central Syria where ISIS
retains latent combat capability.
