ISIS Expected to Revamp Operations in Syria, Grow Ability to Target the West, Says Pentagon Watchdog by Diana Stancy Correll - Military Times
The Islamic State is expected to revamp its operations in Syria and is predicted to grow its capability to attack the West — now that U.S. and allied-Syrian Democratic Forces’ operations to combat ISIS in Syria have been curtailed, according to a new report.
As a result, the Sunni jihadi group will likely have the “time and space” to target the west and regroup around the world, the Defense Intelligence Agency told the DoD Inspector General.
DIA’s assessment is that ISIS is “likely to exploit the reduction in counterterrorism pressure to reconstitute its operations in Syria and expand its ability to conduct transnational attacks,” the Pentagon’s inspector general said in a report released Nov. 19.
Without counterterrorism pressure, the DIA anticipates ISIS will have a better opportunity to cultivate its covert networks, the report said…