Israeli Stats: ISIS Lost One-Third of Its Fighters; Had 25,000 Fighters in 2015, Now Has Only 15K

Various Israeli assessments say the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has lost more than one-third of its fighting members over the past 18 months, the Times of Israel website reports today (October 16, 2016).

Israeli officials estimated the number of ISIS combat fighters at about 25,000 in early 2015. The current estimate stands at approximately 15,000.

The decline of ISIS combat fighters has several causes, perhaps the most important being the American and Russian effort against ISIS. The drastic drop in volunteers is another major cause for the decline, which has occurred since Turkey began blocking ISIS volunteers from using its territory to enter Syria.

While the Islamic State's commanders already have admitted online that ISIS might lose its caliphates in Iraq and Syria, they are now calling for ongoing worldwide terror attacks against non-Muslims.