Islamic State Shifting to IED Attacks as It Loses Ground

U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the international coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) said Thursday that as the terrorist group loses territory, it will shift to asymmetric warfare tactics in Iraq and Syria.

He said at a Pentagon briefing:

As we continue to, through our partners, take away ISIS territory and not allow them to conduct the — the large-scale attacks, the conventional-type fighting that we have seen, we do fully expect that they will devolve back into an insurgent-type organization that looks more like terrorists that conduct these — you know, prior to, you know, 2014, when ISIS came to rise. We expect to see some of the — seem them devolve into those type of actions.

He said, for example, the group is already relying more on using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for 80 percent of its attacks in Syria, where it is trying to maintain its hold on its de facto capital of Raqqa.

Military experts have long feared that scattered hit-and-run attacks will become more prevalent with recent ISIS defeats on the battlefield. Such tactics are difficult to combat as they present an easy opportunity for terrorist groups like ISIS to blend into the civilian population in the region.