Online analysis pinpoints IS strategy

Tweets and YouTube videos by fighters from the Islamic State group have allowed analysts to pinpoint their movements in Iraq and Syria, highlighting the group's increasing push towards government strongholds.

The data compiled by Britain-based analysts from IHS Conflict Monitor, and shared exclusively with AFP, shows how the Islamic State (IS) group is probing beyond the territory it currently holds and pushing the bulk of its forces towards Damascus and Baghdad.

IHS ranks the most reliable Twitter and YouTube accounts from known IS militants, as well as opposition activists and government sources, using the geo-location data from around 4,000 entries a month to map attacks ranging from assassinations to large-scale bomb attacks.