![](https://www.longwarjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/19-08-03-ISIS-spoils-from-an-ambush-on-Iraqi-police.jpg)
Islamic State wages desert-based insurgency in Iraq and Syria
According to a new report released by the Pentagon’s inspector general, ISIS has devised a three-part “overarching strategy” for its “desert-based insurgency” in Iraq and Syria. The three parts are: “sahara” (desert), “sahwat” (meaning awakenings — a derogatory reference to any Sunni Muslims who oppose the group), and “sawlat” (“hit-and-run operations”).