Ibrahim Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi

Russian claims to have killed ISIS leader Ibrahim Abu-Bakr Al-Baghdadi (the self-styled “Caliph Ibrahim”) in an air strike in May would be a devastating blow to the organisation if true.
The core part of ISIS’s attraction to that part of the worldwide Muslim community which is attracted to violent Jihadism is that it claims to be the ‘Islamic State’ and that its leader is the Caliph.
Westerners in my experience do not fully understand the colossal implications of this claim.

Reports are circulating in the Middle East that over the last few days ISIS has started pulling back some of its fighters from Deir Ezzor to its ‘capital’ Raqqa, which is coming under increasing threat from the Kurdish militia and the advancing Syrian army.
This news comes after reports that a senior Syrian government official has recently visited Deir Ezzor to inspect the defences of the encircled town and presumably to give some encouragement to its population and defenders.

The Iraqi government on Sunday 19th February 2017 launched the second stage of its campaign to liberate Mosul – Iraq’s second largest city – from ISIS.
The initial target of the offensive is Mosul’s airport.  Al-Jazeera has published a dramatic account of the early stages of the battle, which includes this evocative phrase

Image Credit: Vice News

It will take a little time but the Islamic State is approaching its end.

 
 Orginally appeared at Sputnik

The Islamic State(also known as Daesh) is the bastard child of the US’s drive to achieve regime change in Syria.