U.S.-led Coalition’s resolve to defeat ISIS weakened – Mazloum Abdi
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Commander in Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, said the U.S.-led Global Coalition’s resolve to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS) has weakened.
Abdi said in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor that the conflict in Gaza is strengthening ISIS and distracting the Coalition from focusing on operations against the group.
“The conflict in Gaza has also boosted Daesh. It is distracting the anti-Daesh coalition and their focus on this region has diminished as a result,” he said.
Abdi pointed out the conditions for “an ISIS resurgence that would restore it to its former strength continue to exist,” adding the group continues to have a financial network and support in the region.
“We ought to be receiving far more financial support from our allies. The opposite is happening. Funds are shrinking. The US-led coalition’s resolve to defeat Daesh has weakened,” Abdi said.
“In the detention camps here in al-Hol, in Roj, new generations of even more radical ISIS militants, boys and girls, are maturing and planning their escape,” Abdi said.
The SDF’s commander in chief indicated that lack of engagement by governments participating in the Coalition with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), the economic crisis, and Turkish attacks on Northeast Syria are all factors exploited by ISIS.
He said Turkey deliberately targeted SDF posts and killed its fighters who played a key role in the fight against ISIS, most notably SDF’s Anti-Terrorism Units (YAT), in addition to attacking the security forces that guard ISIS prisons and the Hawl Camp where families of ISIS militants reside.