Despite its collapse… The “Islamic State” organization is still the second-most powerful force on Syrian soil

With the Syrian revolution’s continuation of its 77^th month, since it was started in mid-March 2011, the clash operations continue on the entire Syrian territory from north to south, and from the east on the Syrian-Iraqi border to its west Coast Mountains. These violent operations have left hundreds of thousands of persons dead and injured during the clashes in most of the Syrian provinces, including support military operations, from aerial bombardment by warplanes, helicopters, missiles and artillery shelling, clashes and explosions.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored from the start the military and field developments, and the changes of control between the warring parties in most of the Syrian provinces until today, where parties advanced at the expense of the others and the control balance between some parties went up side down. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored the regime forces achieve a wide advancement on the Syrian soil, supported by the loyalists gunmen of Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Iranian and Asian nationalities with the support of Russian forces and their warplanes later, where the regime that was in late 2015 in control of About 22% of the total area of Syria (which is 185180 square kilometers) has become in control of 38.14% of the Syrian geographical area (approximately 71000 square kilometers), the regime is in the provinces of Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Latakia, Tartous, Al-Suwaidaa, Daraa, Al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor and Quneitra, the regime forces control Tartous province completely and control almost entirely the provinces of Al-Suwaidaa and Latakia and large portions of the provinces of Damascus, Rif Dimashq, Aleppo, Hama and Homs, and parts of the Daraa and Quneitra provinces, while the regime forces have no presence in Idlib province except for their loyal gunmen in the towns of Al-Fu’ah and Kafriya, and their presence in Al-Hasakah is limited to several locations within the cities of Al-Hasakah, al-Qameshly and the vicinity of al-Qameshly, while they are present in large parts of the southern, western and southwestern countryside of Al-Raqqah, in addition to its control of parts of Deir Ezzor city and military sites and barracks around it.
The regime forces and militiamen loyal to them have lost about 117000 of their members, they were killed during the continuous clashes for the 77^th consecutive month.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also monitored the decline of the “Islamic State” organization, which used to control more than 50% of Syria’s area which reached more than 90000 square kilometers by mid-2015, the reason for this decline was the large and successive defeats of the “Islamic State” organization in Syria, especially after closing its borders with the outside world and clamping down on it, by hitting its resources and funding sources.
The Syrian Observatory monitored the decrease of the organization’s controlled areas until it reached 22.65% of the area of the Syrian land, which is about 42000 of the Syrian land area, and the organization has lost tens of thousands of members between dead and wounded, also Jaysh Khalid Ibn Al-Walid which swore allegiance to the “Islamic State” organization has in in control of an area about 250 square kilometers, which is about 0.13% of Syrian land area, it is present in Yarmouk basin in the western countryside of Daraa, adjacent to the occupied Syrian Golan.

The Syria Democratic forces of which YPG is its backbone managed to achieve a large advancement, after the decline of percentage of their controlled areas as a result of the “Islamic State” organization’s extensive attack on their controlled areas in the provinces of Al-Raqqah, Aleppo and Al-Hasakah, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitored YPG and then SDF advance following the extensive support by the International Coalition, its warplanes and advisers, in addition to the military reinforcements that arrived to the Syria Democratic Forces successively and in large numbers, which were distributed on their controlled areas extending from the Syrian border to the western countryside of Manbij through Al-Raqqah and parts of Deir Ezzor province, in addition to their control over neighborhoods in Aleppo city and on Afrin area; as well as villages extending from Deir Jamal to al-Sha’alah area in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
The Syria Democratic Forces and Kurdish forces’ percentage of control was 22.51%, with a total space of about 41700 sq km.

The rebel and Islamic factions, Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham, the Turkistan Islamic party and factions that include “jihadist” fighters which used to control large areas of the Syrian territory; their control has declined in many areas, where the factions control 16.57% of the Syrian territory, with a geographical area of about 30700 of Syria’s area, and within the overall total of area controlled by the factions: the “Euphrates Wrath” Operation Forces and the Turkish forces control in the northern countryside of Aleppo more than 2250 sq km which is 1.22%, while the American and Western-backed factions in the Syrian desert from line of Tanf Crossing – Kherbet al-Shahmi until the north of Kherbet al-Zaqf (where there is a camp for these factions) control about 3550 square kilometers which is 1.91% of the Syrian geography.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has been monitoring since the second half of 2016 until July 2017, a significant change in the expansion of the regime forces and militiamen loyal to them of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities, with the support of Russia and Iran, the Syria Democratic Forces are expanding their control, and the entry of the Turkish forces to Syrian territory and their involvement with the factions they supported in a military operation, all of that have blocked the last remaining doors for the “Islamic State” organization with the outside world, in addition to the great retreat for the “Islamic State” organization in many areas, also in many areas the regime forces were able to regain control of areas after besieging them and agreeing with those in charge of these cities, towns and areas on “situation settlement or displacement”