While Mosul (Iraq) has been liberated and Raqqa (Syria) partly so, tens of thousands of Daesh combatants have been killed while an equal number is in flight.

However, the Caliphate has paid salaries to 19,000 combatants, who have been allocated as follows:

– 7 000 in Iraq;
– 12 000 in Syria.

In 2014, when it conquered Iraq and Syria, Daesh —which it must be remembered, is only one among many groups of Jihadists— claimed to have a membership of 40, 000 combatants. At that time, it was supported by 80, 000 members of the Order of Naqchbandis (which for the most part were men who had been Iraqi soldiers when President Saddam Hussein was in power) and 120, 000 combatants from Sunni Iraqi tribes. This meant that Daesh was effectively in command of 240, 000 combatants when the Caliphate was being declared.

Translation
Anoosha Boralessa