Endgame II.

This is coolbert:

"It ain't over till it's over." - - Y. Berra.

Here with a collection of extracts from a recent DEBKAfile news letter; those combatants of the Islamic State [ISIL] not necessarily as reported on their last legs. Still retaining and using a formidable combat capability and in some cases able to counter-attack with success when having thought to be down and out for the count.

1. "Two ISIS counteroffensives at Mayadin and Abu Kamal"

10 November.

"Twenty-four hours after celebrating victory over ISIS at its last Syrian stronghold of Abu Kamal, Hizballah and the Syrian army were hit back by Islamic State forces Friday. Islamic State fighters mounted on vehicles fired rocket launchers at Hizballah and Syrian bases outside Mayadin in the eastern Der ez-Zour region. At Abu Kemal, the jihadists recovered parts of the town taken by Hizballah Wednesday and Thursday."

2. "Iraq launches assault on Rawa, last ISIS stronghold in the country"

11 November.

    "Two Iraqi infantry divisions and Sunni tribal forces launched an offensive Saturday to recapture the small town of Rawa and its surrounding areas along the border with Syria in Anbar province . . . But, according to the Iraqi commander, Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) are fighting alongside the army. Al-Qaim nearby was captured last week except for some pockets which remain in ISIS hands. Across the border, Hizballah-led forces seized the strategic Syrian town of Abu Kamal from ISIS. However, in a surprise attack on Friday, the jihadist group recaptured half of the town."

3. "ISIS turns the Abu Kamal tables on Hizballah, Russian air power"

13 November.

"After a long row of devastating defeats in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State Monday, Nov. 13, achieved a turnaround strategic success with the recapture of the eastern Syrian town of Abu Kamal, forcing Hizballah forces to retreat to 1-2 km from the town with heavy casualties. Only last week, the Hizballah-led victory in Abu Kamal, which lies 10km from the Iraqi border, was acclaimed as the fall of the last ISIS bastion in Syria."

4. "ISIS turns the Abu Kamal tables on Hizballah, Russian air power"

13 November.

"ISIS has regained control of parts of the Syrian-Iraqi border and, even more importantly, control of access to the Euphrates Valley which straddles that border. The Islamists maintain large concentrations in the valley and have made the river itself a defense barrier, by planting floating mines on its water and posting a fleet of speedboats packed with explosives."

The Islamic State resilient, resourceful, adaptive, ruthless, fanatical and all the time very dangerous. Never under-estimate them!!

coolbert.