Via Time:

The fall of Palmyra to ISIS over the weekend, months after the ancient city was retaken by Syrian forces and their allies, has blown the lid off the misconception that the jihadist group is being defeated, analysts say.

The desert oasis was first captured by ISIS in May 2015. Militants blew up the historic 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel and publicly executed anyone who deviated from their restrictive worldview. Almost exactly a year later, forces led by the Syrian regime, including Russia and Hezbollah, retook the UNESCO World Heritage site. The victory for the regime was followed by a triumphant concert, organized by Moscow, in the amphitheater of the city’s Roman ruins.

However on Sunday, Palmyra returned to the hands of ISIS after a weeklong offensive — showing it remains a formidable fighting force despite being on retreat, according to Charlie Winter, a senior research fellow and specialist on ISIS at the The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence in London.

Military and political pressure on the group’s heartlands in Iraq, Syria and Libya have withered the numbers of fighters, Winter says, but not its potency. “[ISIS] has been fighting this war for many years now,” he says. “It is replenishing its ranks by conscription and bringing in children and I think it is an organization that is more resilient than some reports suggest.”