ISIS Builds a Government In Northeastern Syria

In cities across northeastern Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has “insinuated itself into nearly every aspect of daily life,” Reuters reports.

Notorious for its brutal tactics, the Sunni militant group “provides electricity and water, pays salaries, controls traffic, and runs nearly everything from bakeries and banks to schools, courts and mosques,” the wire reports. “While its merciless battlefield tactics and its imposition of its austere vision of Islamic law have won the group headlines, residents say much of its power lies in its efficient and often deeply pragmatic ability to govern.”

“In the provincial capital, a dust-blown city that was home to about a quarter of a million people before Syria’s three-year-old war began, the group leaves almost no institution or public service outside of its control. ‘Let us be honest, they are doing massive institutional work. It is impressive,’ said one activist from Raqqa.”

Meanwhile, the Guardian’s Martin Chulov ponders what’s next for ISIS, after two videotaped beheadings of American journalists put the West on guard.

“A growing school of thought is that the gruesome, highly public deaths of James Foley and Stephen Sotloff have done what three blood-soaked years in Syria and Iraq had previously failed to do: galvanised war-weary Western leaders and their deeply skeptical publics to a common and fast growing enemy that may eventually point its turrets their way,” he writes.

“Advocates of toning down the brazen violence say that while such tactics have a strong terror shock value among communities they want to conquer, they also stir sleeping giants. And if ISIS is to continue its quest for dominance, having superpowers collectively enraged so soon might not help further such goals.

“The group has enormous momentum at the moment; militarily it is manoeuvring on three fronts at once – something far beyond the Iraqi or Syrian armies. Along the way, it is collecting large numbers of Sunnis on both sides of the now redundant border. Some are joining out of coercion, others from fear and a smaller number from a conviction that the jihadis share their values and are acting out pre-ordained prophecies.”

Thirteen Civilians Killed in Bus Attack in Eastern Syria

The AP reports on a government airstrike that hit a bus carrying civilians in Shoula, Deir Ezzor province, on Wednesday. Thirteen people died.

But the regime blamed ISIS for the attack, calling it “yet another massacre” committed by the extremists.

The wire says: “The civilians on the bus were the latest victims in Syria’s civil war, which is now in its fourth year and which has killed more than 190,000 people, according to the United Nations. The Local Coordination’s Committees group said 13 people were killed in Wednesday’s airstrike, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 16, including 10 children. It says the death toll was likely to rise because there were many wounded.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team

Reuters: U.N. Denies Golan Peacekeepers Gave Arms to Syria Rebels

Al Monitor: Turkey’s Exports Jump to IS-Controlled Areas of Syria

WSJ: Turkey Struggles to Halt ‘Jihadist Highway’

Foreign Policy: The Syrian Enemy of My Syrian Enemy