The Islamic State (IS) group unleashed its biggest attack in Syria since the fall of its “caliphate” three years ago. More than 100 militants assaulted the main prison holding suspected extremists, sparking a battle with U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters that continued 24 hours later and left dozens dead on Friday.
Across the border in Iraq, gunmen stormed an Army barracks north of Baghdad before dawn on Friday while soldiers inside slept, killing 11 before escaping — the deadliest attack in months on Iraq’s military.
The bold assaults suggest militants have been revitalized after maintaining a low-level insurgency in Iraq and Syria over the past few years. The group’s territorial control in Iraq and Syria was crushed by a years-long U.S.-backed campaign, but its fighters continued with sleeper cells that have increasingly killed scores of Iraqis and Syrians in past months.