Tearing through the world
ISIS has shown remarkable tenacity, not to mention outreach, for an organisation apparently on the run. The couple or so years of US led allied bombing in Syria could not do the caliphate much damage, but things did indeed change once the Russians, in addition to the Iranians, began helping the Syrians. The aerial bombardment devastated much of the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, besides disrupting its oil sales to some of its neighbouring countries and shutting off the crucial Turkish border. Since then it has rapidly lost ground to the Syrian Arab Army. And with Aleppo all but secured, there’s only so long Raqqa can stand, even with continued funding and arming from much of the GCC.
Yet ISIS has expanded its theatre of attacks remarkably. In just the last few weeks, it has struck in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France and Belgium. One reason is ISIS’s new model of terrorism. The al Qaeda model demanded direct instruction from the central, or even peripheral, leadership. ISIS, on the other hand, works both directly and indirectly. It is happy to embrace anybody who comes to join the caliphate – and thousands have from across the world. But it is just as happy taking its ideology across borders and oceans, primarily through the internet.
That is why even lone wolf attacks, for which it provides only ample inspiration, are a deadly novelty. Unfortunately the world’s bigger powers have continued to trade political blows over the last few years, allowing ISIS to assume such dangerous proportions. Even now, with this new wave of militancy threatening the peace of the whole world, some countries still prefer to play proxy wars rather than let peace return to the region. Pakistan may be a world removed from the Middle East, but it is not too far from the ISIS threat. And, as far too many news reports have shown, it is already a reality here. Zarb-e-Azb must be mindful of this new player on the chess board.
