Researcher Mohammad Safar considers the figure of 10,000 ISIS fighters large for Syria and Iraq, noting the group may seek leadership after the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. He told Al-Hurra that if the numbers are accurate, these groups could carry out significant operations, especially given ISIS’s former control of territory and knowledge of the region’s terrain and communities. ISIS remains the strongest and most organized group on the scene. The organization may invest the weakness of Al-Qaeda and seek to lead what it calls the forces of global arrogance.
