Key Highlights
- Islamic State militant group has suffered a spate of desertions by its fighters in Eastern Syria.
- The Islamic State extremist group has been struck by a wave of desertions in eastern Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor where they are combating with local residents.
Analysis
According to a report on VOA, the desertions and resistance appear to have alarmed the Islamic State leaders who had recently sent three security detachments of trusted militant from the Iraqi city of Mosul to oversee executions of suspected opponents and to launch a crackdown in the towns of Al-Mayadeen and Hatlah, a mainly Shi’ite village in the oil-rich province bordering Iraq.
The report further revealed that a stream of Islamic state members has been deserting the militant outfit including four regional commanders. The commanders are Ammar Haddawi, Aamer Al-Naklawi, Mahmoud Al-Khalaf Al-Rasheideh and Abu Obaidah Al-Masri, who oversaw tax collection in Al-Mayadeen at times, absconded with large amounts of cash.
Last week, IS militants started deploying military reinforcements in the districts of the city of Deir ez-Zor that the group currently holds, in preparation for an assault on the besieged neighborhood of al-Jora, which together with the city’s al-Qusour district has been under control of regime forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since the start of this year.
In the province’s countryside, the Islamic State group holds sway but is facing renewed attacks by local resistance fighters in uncoordinated groups.
Forecast
The IS militant group facing desertion by its fighters came at a time the when their counterpart IS fighters in Turkey are calling Muslims in Turkey to support the group fight their enemy.
According to SITE Intelligence group, the Turkish IS fighters in ar-Raqqah province addressed Muslims in Turkey in a video asking for their support.
The militant may be abandoning the outfit which is faced corruption. In an effort to fill the gap, the group may turn their effort in recruiting kids as it has been the case before.
IS militants organize quizzes and competitions in mosques to tempt kids with awards and financial tokens as well as material prizes.
