Claims by a US general that 100 foreign fighters a month still travel to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS are likely overplayed in order to justify a continued American presence in Syria, an analyst says. But the group still remains a potent force capable of fierce resistance defending its last redoubt in the Syrian desert.
Speaking at a conference at a military facility in Maryland, the Pentagon’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford said groups like ISIS “remain resilient, determined and adaptable”.
“It’s the flow of foreign fighters, the ability to move resources, and the ideology that allows these groups to operate,” Gen Dunford said on Tuesday.
While at its peak, ISIS attracted roughly 1500 foreigner to its ranks a month, Gen Dunford warned against complacency in the fight against violent extremism, estimating that 100 foreigners were still joining the group monthly.
This figure seemed artificially high, said Aymenn Al-Tamimi, a research fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Today, the only part of Syria controlled by ISIS is a remote desert area along the eastern border with Iraq without major population centres. Its distance from the Turkish border would complicate attempts by foreign fighters to smuggle themselves in, says Mr Al-Tamimi. Getting through Iraqi airports or border crossings would be equally as difficult.
The aim of Gen Dunford overplaying the number of foreign fighters joining ISIS was likely to justify the US’ continuing presence in Syria, argues Mr Al-Tamimi. “The fight against ISIS is its official reason to remain there. It would be much harder for the US to explain its presence as an official counter-Iran mission”.
The US, as well as its regional ally Israel, fears that Iran’s influence on Syria will be permanently bolstered thanks to its support of the government of Bashar Al Assad during the civil war.
For the past month, ISIS has been resisting a fierce attack led by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against its last significant stronghold near the Iraqi border, around the town of Hajin.
__________
Read more:
Syria's porous borders
Syria will give Idlib ceasefire 'more time' after militants fail to withdraw
Syrian families reunited as Jordan border crossing reopens
__________
But the SDF’s efforts have been recently slowed down due to bad weather, which offer ISIS fighters cover from aerial surveillance.
“Daesh is benefiting a lot from weather factors, including sandstorms. They've helped it take cover from reconnaissance aircraft and other monitoring mechanisms," a top SDF commander, Redur Khalil, said on Tuesday, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS. As a result, the battle will take “much longer than expected”.
The SDF, which estimates that some 3,000 ISIS fighters remain the area, has lost over 200 fighters over the past month, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor yesterday. More than 300 ISIS fighters were reportedly killed.
The UN has warned of the “devastating impact” of the violence on at least 10,000 civilians. ISIS reportedly abducted hundreds of them last week in Hajin, where it is also thought to be holding dozens of women hostages from Sweida for the past three months.
Additionally, the SOHR reported yesterday that shelling by the SDF and the international coalition killed seven civilians.
The SDF’s latest setback highlights ISIS’ resilience in Syria, particularly in the remote desert area which stretches from the southern volcanic, uninhabited region east of Sweida, where ISIS is currently fighting the Syrian army, to the Iraqi border and then north to Turkey.
Defending champions
World Series: South Africa
Women’s World Series: Australia
Gulf Men’s League: Dubai Exiles
Gulf Men’s Social: Mediclinic Barrelhouse Warriors
Gulf Vets: Jebel Ali Dragons Veterans
Gulf Women: Dubai Sports City Eagles
Gulf Under 19: British School Al Khubairat
Gulf Under 19 Girls: Dubai Exiles
UAE National Schools: Al Safa School
International Invitational: Speranza 22
International Vets: Joining Jack
Company%C2%A0profile
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
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ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Profile of Hala Insurance
Date Started: September 2018
Founders: Walid and Karim Dib
Based: Abu Dhabi
Employees: Nine
Amount raised: $1.2 million
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, AB Accelerator, 500 Startups, private backers
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
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Test series fixtures
(All matches start at 2pm UAE)
1st Test Lord's, London from Thursday to Monday
2nd Test Nottingham from July 14-18
3rd Test The Oval, London from July 27-31
4th Test Manchester from August 4-8
The%20Sandman
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Race card
6.30pm: Emirates Holidays Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (Dirt), 1,900m
7.05pm: Arabian Adventures Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
7.40pm: Emirates Skywards Handicap (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
8.15pm: Emirates Airline Conditions (TB), Dh120,000 (D), 1,400m
8.50pm: Emirates Sky Cargo (TB), Dh92,500 (D)1,400m
9.15pm: Emirates.com (TB), Dh95,000 (D), 2,000m
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Pickford (Everton), Pope (Burnley), Henderson (Manchester United)
Defenders Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Chilwell (Chelsea), Coady (Wolves), Dier (Tottenham), Gomez (Liverpool), James (Chelsea), Keane (Everton), Maguire (Manchester United), Maitland-Niles (Arsenal), Mings (Aston Villa), Saka (Arsenal), Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Foden (Manchester City), Henderson (Liverpool), Grealish (Aston Villa), Mount (Chelsea), Rice (West Ham), Ward-Prowse (Southampton), Winks (Tottenham)
Forwards: Abraham (Chelsea), Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Kane (Tottenham), Rashford (Manchester United), Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Sterling (Manchester City)
T20 World Cup Qualifier A, Muscat
Friday, February 18: 10am - Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm - Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am - Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm - UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am - Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm - Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm – semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm – final
UAE squad: Ahmed Raza (captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
Naga
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Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.