This week, the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) completed the liberation of the Syrian city of Raqqa from the militants of the ISIS terrorist group (banned in Russia). Bruno Schirra, a German expert and journalist who has studied ISIS for a long time and wrote several works on religious terrorism ('ISIS - The Global Jihad', 'Terror is coming: Germany at jihadists' gunpoint'), speaking with InfoRadio, commented on the capture of the terrorists' stronghold in Syria.
"First of all, it was a very symbolic defeat for ISIS (since Raqqa was the 'capital of the caliphate'), about the same as the loss of the Iraqi Mosul for the terrorists. This defeat, however, does not mean the end of ISIS, as the terrorists will regroup and seize new territories in Syria," the expert warned.
According to Schirra, no one can be fully aware of the real strength of the ISIS army. "According to the CIA, the group had about 30,000 fighters, but if comparing these figures with the data on losses suffered by terrorists in recent months, we can conclude that in reality the strength of ISIS is much higher. It would be pure speculation to cite any numbers," he noted.
At the same time, the journalist is pessimistic about the prospect of calming the region after the capture of Raqqa. "Despite the fact that they constantly stress that the Syrian Democratic Forces that captured Raqqa consisted of Kurds and Arabs, in reality 90% of the fighters were Kurds. It is about the Syrian Kurds, which work closely with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is considered a terrorist group in Europe. Earlier, the Syrian Kurds often cooperated with the government forces of Bashar Assad when it was profitable for them. That is, the operation to liberate Rakka involved an amorphous union that will fall apart soon. It means that the region around Raqqa will not be peaceful for a long time," the expert predicts.
Bruno Schirra noted that until now Russia's and the United States's interests in Raqqa have coincided: "The US has supported the SDF with logistics, weapons and advisers on the ground - the US special forces have taken direct part in the operation. At the same time, the US-led coalition provided air support. Russia, which supports Bashar al-Assad's regime, is also interested in the destruction of ISIS".
German journalist warns that the liberation of Raqqa will not be the end of ISIS. According to him, the group's strategists thought over the actions in case if the project of the "caliphate" fails: "ISIS spread its metastases all over the world - across northern Africa, Sinai, Yemen, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Pakistan. We also have to keep in mind the project of the so-called 'virtual caliphate', which continues to function successfully. 'The virtual caliphate' is a serious danger for Europe, as ISIS will react to the loss of Mosul and Raqqa with terrorist attacks in European countries," Bruno Schirra predicts.
