ISIS never stopped being a threat Nicholas Heras told the AFP

The article notes: “The Islamic State group may have lost its “caliphate”, but three months later, experts have warned the jihadists are still attacking fighters and fields in Syria to show they remain relevant.”

It is using a variety of methods:

  • “The deadliest include a car bombing on June 1 that took the lives of 10 civilians and seven SDF fighters in the northern city of Raqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.”
  • “On April 9, another suicide blast killed 13 people, mostly civilians, also in the group’s former de-facto Syrian capital.”

and that means the SDF must remain vigilant. “Last week, the SDF detained several IS loyalists in two operations in Deir Ezzor and the northeastern province of Hasakeh, it has said.”

A different report noted US vehicles crossed into Syria recently supporting civilian infrastructure.