Daesh lost 12% of territory in Iraq, Syria since 2016:IHS

The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has lost 12 percent of the territory it already held in Syria and Iraq in the first half of 2016, a British think tank says.

According to a report released by the IHS Conflict Monitor on Sunday, the territories under the control of Daesh, which started its reign of terror in Iraq and Syria in 2014, are increasingly shrinking due to a string of setbacks it suffered last year and in the past months.

In 2015, Daesh territory “shrunk by 12,800 square kilometers to 78,000 square kilometers, a net loss of 14 percent,” the IHS said, adding, “In the first six months of 2016, that territory shrunk again by 12 percent. As of July 4, 2016, it controls roughly 68,300 square kilometers in Iraq and Syria.”

On December 22, 2015, the IHS reported that the terror group had lost control over more than 13,000 square kilometers of the territory it controlled in the two Arab countries since January, a net loss of 14 percent.

In another report on March 16, the think tank said that Daesh had lost a further eight percent since the beginning of January.

“Over the past 18 months, it has continued to lose territory at an increasing rate,” said Columb Strack, a senior analyst at the IHS and lead analyst for the IHS Conflict Monitor.

As Daesh territory “shrinks and it becomes increasingly clear that its governance project is failing, the group is re-prioritizing insurgency. As a result, we unfortunately expect an increase in mass casualty attacks and sabotage of economic infrastructure, across Iraq and Syria, and further afield, including Europe,” Strack added.