Since February 2015, Syria has entered its 4th year of a full, intense and bloody war. One year ago, in May 2014, despite a few setbacks, loyalists (Syrian government) seemed to hold firmly after series of important battles in 2013 reasserting their control over important and strategic areas such as Aleppo or near the Lebanon border. At the same time, rebels suffered both loyalists offensive and a deadly infighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS), later renamed Islamic State (IS). In such a complex and dynamic war, one could imagine that the situation was to change, and indeed dramatic events such as the offensives of the Islamic State led to a very different strategic situation one year after.
The 2014 Islamic State offensive
In June 2014, the sudden invasion of Iraq by the Islamic State, and the fall of Mossul, led to a quick strengthening of the jihadist group. In the same time, they achieved to conquer the remaining rebels-held areas in Deirez-Zor and Raqqah in Syria. These conquests mostly happened by receiving allegiance of rebels groups, while the others fled to Western Syria or, in some rare cases (such as the Shaytat tribe) tried to resist. During the summer of 2014, the IS turned their attention to some isolated loyalist army bases (Regiment 17, Regiment 121, Tabqah air-base, and Ayn Isa) and stormed them. The result was heavy human losses for the government troops, as well as important stock of weapons an ammunitions seized by the IS.