President Barack Obama authorized US air strikes on the group in
Syria, disappearing from the streets, redeploying weapons and
fighters, and cutting down its media exposure,Reutersreports.
In the city of Raqqa, 450 km (280 miles) northeast of Damascus,
residents say Islamic State has been moving equipment every day since
Obama signaled on Sept. 11 that air attacks on its forces could be
expanded from Iraq to Syria.
Islamic State activists who typically answer questions on the Internet
have been off line since then. Its leaders have not given a direct
response to Obama: his speech last week was not mentioned in a video
released on Saturday showing the beheading of British hostage David
Haines by an Islamic State militant.
As the United States tries to assemble a coalition to fight Islamic
State, the jihadist group appears to be trying to leave as much
uncertainty as possible about its strategy.
Facing US air strikes in Iraq, Islamic State fighters abandoned heavy
weaponry that made them easy targets and tried to blend into civilian
areas. In anticipation of similar raids in Syria, the group may
already be doing the same.
In Raqqa, the group has evacuated buildings it was using as offices,
redeployed its heavy weaponry, and moved fighters' families out of the
city.
"They are trying to keep on the move," said one Raqqa resident,
communicating via the Internet and speaking on condition of anonymity
because of safety fears. "They have sleeper cells everywhere," he
added.
"They only meet in very limited gatherings."
The top US general promised on Tuesday "a persistent and sustainable
campaign" against Islamic State in Syria, and Washington is probably
already watching its positions in Raqqa. Obama approved surveillance
flights over Syria last month, and footage taken by activists earlier
this month appeared to show an American-made drone over the city.
The militants are not dormant; the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, which tracks violence in the country's civil war, said they
had shot down a Damascus government war plane near Raqqa using
anti-aircraft guns.
However, another resident said: "Islamic State is now carrying out
tactical defensive moves by relocating their assets to different
places so that their heavy weaponry is not all concentrated in one
place."
Raqqa and the surrounding province is Islamic State's main base in
Syria. Last month, its fighters drove the final government forces from
the area when it seized an air base.
Since seizing the Iraqi city of Mosul in June, the group has also
extended its control over neighboring Deir al-Zor province, which
borders Iraq. Making good on its promise to redraw the Middle East,
Islamic State has declared a new province including territory on both
sides of the frontier.
In Raqqa, Islamic State had taken charge of many aspects of civilian
life, managing everything from traffic to bakeries in an effort to
establish a state run according to its own, radical interpretation of
Islam.
Islamic State has been trying to give a sense of business as normal
even as it has reduced its presence in the streets, said another
resident of the city whose population numbered about 200,000 before
the civil war. "They are giving the impression they don't care," the
resident said.
"These days the fighters are not deployed heavily on the streets. Only
those who have to are appearing. The streets are empty and the people
are worried and scared."
Some activists did appear on the outskirts of Raqqa on Tuesday. They
were pictured collecting wreckage of the downed Syrian war plane and
loading it into the back of a truck flying the group's black flag.
Since Obama's speech, shops in Raqqa have been closing early and the
value of the U.S. dollar has jumped in the local hard currency market,
residents said. Dozens of people have left the city, though there has
been no sign of mass migration.
While preparing for an attack, Islamic State has also been trying to
promote its cause among residents. Some already express support for
the group whose rule has brought a modicum of stability, albeit in a
hardline form.
A 14-point statement distributed in recent days reminded residents of
Islamic State rules such as its ban on smoking and drinking, and
requirement for women to cover up and stay at home. It also warned
that anyone who dealt with President Bashar al-Assad's government
would face death.
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