As US battles ISIS, many in Syria take their cue from Afghanistan
The Biden administration touted the high-profile U.S. raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in northern Syria last week as sending “a strong message to terrorists around the world.” But for many outside Syria, it was a rare reminder that the fight against the Islamic State was, in fact, not over.
Three years after its territorial defeat, with the fall of its self-declared caliphate, ISIS has evolved from a military group into a decentralized insurgency operating on the fringes of Syria and Iraq. That has left the U.S.-led, global anti-ISIS coalition and its local partners adapting – often on the fly – to pursue a mission with no end date in sight.
“No one quite wants to acknowledge that the fight against ISIS in Iraq and in Syria in particular
