Page 6 - Digi Notes - English -14 April
P. 6
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Famished = extremely hungry for achieving something, क ु छ पाने की भूख
ARTICLE - 2
The recapture of the ancient city of Palmyra by Syrian government forces
marks one of the biggest setbacks for the Islamic State since the group
announced its ‘Caliphate’ in June 2014. It also demonstrates the continued
weakening of the IS on the battleground. It lost about 14 per cent of the
territory in Iraq and Syria last year, including the city of Ramadi, to Iraqi
troops. Several factors have been at play in structurally weakening the IS
over the past few months. The tide started turning against it when in June it
lost Tal Abyad, a strategically important town on the Turkish-Syrian border,
to Kurdish rebels. The town was one of the IS’s main access points for
smuggling in weapons, materiel and fighters. Turkey’s move to tighten its
long and porous border with Syria after jihadists began attacking Turkish
cities and international pressure mounted on Ankara, squeezed the IS’s
cross-border supply lines. Pointed U.S. air strikes on the group’s oil
infrastructure and training camps too weakened it both financially and
organizationally. But the final blow came from Russia. From the beginning
of its intervention in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin kept saying that
the best answer to the terrorists in Syria would be the “restoration of
statehood”. This is what Russia achieved in Syria. Five months of Russian
intervention has bolstered the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, raised the morale
of its troops and helped it make major advances on the ground. The ceasefire
in Syria, which led to a partial suspension of the fighting with the rebels,
may also have helped government forces to use their resources more
effectively.
Palmyra is an instance that could be repeated in future battles against the IS:
first weaken the organization through multiple attacks and then launch a final
ground offensive by the most organized military force — in this case the
Syrian national army — to recapture territories. For the IS, territory is
important. It is its hold over territories that makes the IS different from other
jihadist groups. The claim of establishing a ‘Caliphate’ comes out of the
territories it controls. So every time it loses land the ‘Caliphate’ shrinks,
weakening its terror machinery further. The fight against the IS will not be
complete unless its core is destroyed. This is not an easy task, however. The
www.mahendraguru.com
Famished = extremely hungry for achieving something, क ु छ पाने की भूख
ARTICLE - 2
The recapture of the ancient city of Palmyra by Syrian government forces
marks one of the biggest setbacks for the Islamic State since the group
announced its ‘Caliphate’ in June 2014. It also demonstrates the continued
weakening of the IS on the battleground. It lost about 14 per cent of the
territory in Iraq and Syria last year, including the city of Ramadi, to Iraqi
troops. Several factors have been at play in structurally weakening the IS
over the past few months. The tide started turning against it when in June it
lost Tal Abyad, a strategically important town on the Turkish-Syrian border,
to Kurdish rebels. The town was one of the IS’s main access points for
smuggling in weapons, materiel and fighters. Turkey’s move to tighten its
long and porous border with Syria after jihadists began attacking Turkish
cities and international pressure mounted on Ankara, squeezed the IS’s
cross-border supply lines. Pointed U.S. air strikes on the group’s oil
infrastructure and training camps too weakened it both financially and
organizationally. But the final blow came from Russia. From the beginning
of its intervention in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin kept saying that
the best answer to the terrorists in Syria would be the “restoration of
statehood”. This is what Russia achieved in Syria. Five months of Russian
intervention has bolstered the regime of Bashar Al-Assad, raised the morale
of its troops and helped it make major advances on the ground. The ceasefire
in Syria, which led to a partial suspension of the fighting with the rebels,
may also have helped government forces to use their resources more
effectively.
Palmyra is an instance that could be repeated in future battles against the IS:
first weaken the organization through multiple attacks and then launch a final
ground offensive by the most organized military force — in this case the
Syrian national army — to recapture territories. For the IS, territory is
important. It is its hold over territories that makes the IS different from other
jihadist groups. The claim of establishing a ‘Caliphate’ comes out of the
territories it controls. So every time it loses land the ‘Caliphate’ shrinks,
weakening its terror machinery further. The fight against the IS will not be
complete unless its core is destroyed. This is not an easy task, however. The
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