ISIS-K's attack on Crocus Theater, Russia shows that IS affiliates are gradually emerging with the ambition to spread their tentacles around the world.
In April 4, self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) rebel leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi posted a video to send a message to followers in remote areas. Al-Baghdadi admitted that the "self-proclaimed state" in the Middle East had been destroyed and that the world's "revenge campaign" now depended on indigenous extremist groups linked to IS.
“Our battle now is a long, attrition struggle,” al-Baghdadi said in a video released shortly after the fall of IS's last stronghold in Syria. “We should know that the jihad movement will continue until the Day of Judgment.”
In October of the same year, al-Baghdadi was destroyed after a raid by US special forces in Syria, but a series of affiliates of this organization still exist and are rising in many areas, as the world continuously witnesses. Conflicts break out, which is considered a favorable environment for extremism to flourish.
IS-Khorasan (ISIS-K), the IS affiliate in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. This is said to be the most violent armed group of all extremist organizations in this country located between Central Asia and South Asia. ISIS-K was founded in 2015, when IS was still active in Iraq and Syria.
ISIS-K members in a video posted by the group in September 9. Image: Wilson Center
After the Taliban overthrew the Afghan government in 2021, ISIS-K took advantage of the turmoil to increase its activities. During the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, ISIS-K carried out a suicide bombing at the international airport in Kabul in August 8, killing 2021 US soldiers and 13 civilians.
In January, ISIS-K claimed to be behind the bombing that killed 1 people in Kerman, Iran, during a memorial service for General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone attack (UAV). in Iraq in 84. IS propaganda networks often hail these bombings as evidence that the organization is rising again.
Meanwhile, some IS branches in Africa are also gradually getting stronger and well equipped. In West Africa and the Sahel region in North Africa, these extremist groups have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to control areas, repelling government forces when they seek to intervene. The ISIS branch in Mali has occupied part of the country's two provinces. Other IS affiliates in Africa occupy towns in Somalia and the Cabo Delgado region in Mozambique.
Even in Syria and Iraq, where thousands of IS fighters have been destroyed after a four-year campaign by the US-led military coalition, IS remains a potential threat, said Dana Stroul, deputy assistant Assistant Secretary for Middle East Affairs at the Pentagon, said.
“The recent resurgence is not something that happened overnight, but something ISIS-K has been planning for many years,” said Amira Jadoon, a professor at Clemson University, South Carolina. He often consults with the US government on anti-terrorism issues.
The scene of a double bombing in the city of Kerman, southeastern Iran during General Soleimani's memorial service on January 3. Image: AFP
Officials and anti-terrorism experts warned that after the attack on Russia's Crocus theater, the world could witness many similar tragedies. ISIS-K and other IS branches are quietly expanding in scale and ambition, while the world focuses its attention on the war in Ukraine and the Gaza conflict.
In the past 12 months, IS has claimed responsibility for more than 1.100 attacks, causing a total of nearly 5.000 casualties around the world, according to data from a terrorism tracking project run by the Washington Institute for Nearby Policy. Dong (WINEP) deployed last week.
ISIS-K also does not hide its ambition to expand its territory. In an article in ISIS-K's magazine, the group declared that “Islamic territory has never been limited to Afghanistan, but is much broader, encompassing Africa, from eastern Turkestan in Kazakhstan to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, expanding into Chechnya and Dagestan, from Turkey to Middle Eastern countries, Pakistan, India and beyond.”
“The Taliban are the only force dealing with ISIS-K in Afghanistan, but they still struggle with the task of running the country,” said Colin Clarke, senior researcher at the Soufan Center, based in New York. . “The Taliban is a successful insurgency, but seems ineffective when dealing with other insurgents.”
Clark warned that ISIS-K is posing a "significant threat" and that attacks carried out from the Middle East to Europe show that the group "still has many plots and potential to deploy".
“Unfortunately, we must prepare ourselves for the scenario of other terrorist plots,” the official said.
Like Tam (Follow Washington Post, Newsweek)
