By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2025-10-02

The successive defeats suffered by the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) have not only diminished its power but also exposed its remaining leaders and operatives, military experts say.

This exposure is giving international counter-terrorism forces more opportunities to capture or eliminate them.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on September 19 that Omar Abdul Qader, ISIS’s external operations planner in Syria, was killed in a precision airstrike.

"Omar Abdul Qader was an ISIS member actively seeking to attack the United States. His death disrupts the terrorist organization’s ability to plot and carry out future attacks threatening Americans and our partners," CENTCOM said in a statement.

Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, reaffirmed coalition commitment.

"We will not yield in our pursuit of terrorists seeking to attack the United States, our forces, or allies and partners abroad." Cooper said according to the statement.

ISIS in disarray

ISIS’s leadership losses have left the organization increasingly fragmented and vulnerable, said military analyst Wael Abdul Muttalib.

"The state of fragmentation ISIS is experiencing after receiving successive military and security blows has rendered its organizational structure fragile, lacking any protective cover," he said.

"Consequently, access to its remaining leaders and dangerous elements has become significantly easier than in the past," he added.

Abdul Muttalib said that repeated US-led counter-terrorism operations have eliminated many senior figures still considered global threats.

"The group’s previous situation allowed its leaders to conceal themselves and move freely within areas under its military control. Losing this protection has been the greatest blow, causing the organization’s collapse," he said.

Why the fight must continue?

Experts stressed that international counter-terrorism operations remain essential to preventing ISIS’s resurgence.

"The continued presence and operation of the international coalition forces to combat terrorism is a global necessity imposed by global security standards," said military expert Yahya Muhammad Ali.

Ali highlighted that the coalition’s rapid response to ISIS’s expansion in Syria and Iraq transformed a growing regional threat into a coordinated global effort to protect international security.

"What the international coalition forces have accomplished in Syria and Iraq is a great military achievement," Ali said.

"The threat that emerged with the spread of ISIS had become a global danger that required swift collective action, and this is what U.S. forces and their partners achieved through the coalition," he added.

Although ISIS remnants remain, experts agreed that the group’s capacity to plan, organize, and execute attacks has sharply declined.

"Successive strikes have created a dearth in planning, organization, and execution," he said.

"This shows that the coalition’s dedication has not only weakened ISIS but also strengthened long-term global security," Ali said.