The Islamic State’s ability to wage an insurgency in northeastern Syria is bolstered by the incompetence of the SDF, which has failed to include local Arabs in decision-making processes; thus the group fails to provide adequate security, inadvertently causes harm to locals during anti-terror operations via wrongful arrests, and fails to offset economic hardship. Together, these factors have created an opening that ISIS has exploited to undermine civilian trust in Kurdish leadership and elevate the organization’s appeal.
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