ISIS withdraw members from Anbar to join Syria’s Palmyra battles
Qaim town’s gate
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State (ISIS) extremists are withdrawing many of their militants from the western regions of Anbar to Syria to join the extremist group’s battles against Syrian and Russian forces, a high-profile Iraqi army officer has said.
ISIS are withdrawing a “large number” of militants from the towns of Rawa and al-Qaem to join battles in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra which the group reportedly took over recently after fierce battles with Syrian troops backed by Russian aircraft, the senior officer was quoted as saying by Almaalomah news website.
The officer attributed the move to to offset what he described as “severe human losses” the group sustained at the Syrian front.
ISIS is currently in fierce battles against US-backed Iraqi troops seeking to recapture the city of Mosul, the group’s last bastion in Iraq which Iraqi government and militia commanders say had been isolated from ISIS’s Syria strongholds.