Coalition monitoring attempts by ISIS to reorganize – Brigade Commander
The U.S.-led Coalition against ISIS is on alert for possible attempts of the terrorists to reorganize amid continuous loses in Iraq and Syria, Colonel Pat Work, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, told reporters on Tuesday.
From December 2016 to September 2017, some 2,000 Falcon Brigade Paratroopers deployed to Iraq and Syria in support of the Operation Inherent Resolve. The brigade, led by Work, supported the liberation of Mosul and Tal Afar.
ISIS has been disintegrating under sustained coalition and partner forces attacks. Experts, along with Pentagon officials, anticipate the group will most likely turn to insurgency and will resemble Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria.
Work noted, however, that ISIS does not want to be a terrorist network.
“ISIS does not want to be an insurgency,” he said. “By definition, this so-called Islamic State wants to be a country. It declared itself a caliphate, and this physical caliphate is in shambles. It is falling apart.”
The commander added that the remnants of ISIS army would attempt to reorganize.
“One of the critical things that the coalition is doing it is looking for those indicators of reconstitution. I guarantee you that this coalition of many will attack with precise lethal fires or help the Iraqi security forces to maneuver against ISIS as a reconstitute if it sees those indicators. But right now that is not happening,” he underscored.