ISIL territory decreased by 22% since January 2015: IHS

Military analysts at IHS Jane's say the Takfiri terrorist group has lost control of 22 percent of territory it held in Iraq and Syria since the beginning of 2015.

The IHS Conflict Monitor said in a report released on Wednesday that the ISIL (Daesh) terrorists lost 14 percent of swathes of territory they held in 2015 and a further eight percent this year.

The report stated that the US and Russian air raids have contributed to the advance of forces fighting Daesh.

Columb Strack, senior analyst at IHS, said the Syrian government has made gains in western Syria and is now five kilometers outside the ancient city of Palmyra, which was captured by Daesh in mid-2015.

IHS Jane's said the terrorists controlled 73,440 square kilometers (28,360 square miles) of ground as of Monday.

Daesh is “increasingly isolated, and being perceived as in decline," said Strack, who added that "isolation and further military defeats" will make it harder for Daesh "to attract new recruits to Syria from the pool of foreign jihadists."

IHS further noted that Daesh has begun to suffer financial difficulties since it lost the strategically important town of Tal Abyad on Syria's border with Turkey last year.

SS