ISIS Releases Recording Said to Be of Its Leader

Even as the group has lost territory in one part of its caliphate, it has retaken areas that were declared liberated.

In recent weeks, new Islamic State checkpoints have emerged in Libya, and the group continues to hold parts of the city of Marawi, in the Philippines, despite a four-month-long siege by the country’s military.

The Islamic State staged a counterassault this week on Ramadi, Iraq, a town liberated by the Iraqis in 2015; and in neighboring Syria on Thursday, the group’s fighters assaulted a position south of the city of Deir al-Zour, putting a dent in recent gains by the government there.