IS Controls Less Than 5% of Syria

The area controlled by the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group in Syria has been reduced to less than 5%, the Russian Defense Ministry said, but human rights groups remain concerned about the “dire humanitarian situation” in Raqqa, captured from militants by US-backed militias.

“Islamic State currently controls less than 5% of Syrian territory,” Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday, noting that prior to the Russian Air Force operation, IS controlled “more than 70% of Syrian territory,” RT reported.

According to Shoigu, over the course of two years, the Russian Air Force has helped destroy nearly 1,000 terrorist training camps, almost 700 factories and munitions manufacturing workshops, and 1,500 units of military equipment belonging to terrorists.

“Some 998 cities and settlements have been liberated from terrorists,” Shoigu noted, adding that Russian demining experts neutralize as many as 1,500 explosive objects per day left by IS militants in Syria.

However, in some of the territories liberated from IS, life remains a struggle. Human rights groups say they are seriously concerned about the situation in Raqqa, which had served as IS’s de facto capital in Syria since January 2014, and was seized by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces last week.

Most residential buildings in the city are believed to have been rendered uninhabitable due to the fighting and the massive bombardment by the US-led coalition’s airstrikes and artillery shelling. Human Rights Watch told RT that Washington apparently neglected the city’s infrastructure while prioritizing the defeat of IS at all costs.