The US Army's Central Command (CENTCOM) announced today that attacks by the Islamic State (IS) organization in Iraq and Syria are almost twice as numerous as last year.
The CENTCOM statement said that IS claimed responsibility for 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria during the first half of 2024 alone, and that for all of 2023 that number was 121.
"The increase in attacks indicates that IS is trying to rebuild its forces after several years of reduced capabilities," CENTCOM said.
The announcement comes just after the 10th anniversary of the armed group declaring a caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Syria. At its peak, the group ruled areas the size of e.g. half of Great Britain where it practiced an extreme interpretation of Islam, which included attacks on religious minority groups.
Gunmen also killed thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority and kidnapped many women and children, many of whom were sexually abused and trafficked.
The US-led coalition of more than 80 countries fought IS, which lost control of territory it controlled in Iraq and Syria in 2019, although "sleeper cells" remain in both countries and abroad.
Iraqi officials say they can contain the IS threat with their own forces and have entered into talks with the US to end the US-led coalition's mission in Iraq.
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