WORLD NEWS | ISIS expanding footprint in South Asia?

New Delhi [India], May 6 (ANI): The Islamic State, also known as Daesh, has roots in Iraq and Syria and was founded in 1999 by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Islamic terrorist group, which follows the Salafist jihadist offshoot of Sunni Islam, gained global prominence in 2014 and has rapidly expanded its footprint into South Asia, a region with a large Muslim population.

A recently leaked document revealed that the Islamic State is using Afghanistan as a safe haven from which it operates and targets vital facilities in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Read also | United Kingdom: A retired man of Indian origin has been charged with killing his 77-year-old wife in London.

On April 21, 2019, when the people of Sri Lanka were celebrating Easter, a series of terrorist suicide bombings by the “Islamic State” shocked the country.

Coordinated attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels in the city of Colombo killed a total of 269 people, including 45 foreigners.

Read also | Dog attack in Costa Rica: 2-year-old boy mauled to death by German shepherd after ‘accidentally’ tripping over family pet

On the 4th anniversary of the attack, Sri Lankans are still demanding justice and answers for the deadly Easter bombings.

Chandima Jayamali, a widow who lost her husband in the attack, explained her grief over the attacks in Sri Lanka: “God hears our curses. Our cardinals and priests are trying to bring justice, but Regrettably, to date, we have not had justice.”

Recent deadly attacks by the Islamic State in South Asia, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, signal the growing presence of the Islamic State in the region.

According to a leaked Pentagon memo, the Islamic State is reemerging in Afghanistan and plotting an “ambitious plot” to attack Europe, Asia and the United States. The memo cited included specific targets, including churches, embassies and commercial centers.

Explaining the stability of the Taliban government, South Asia expert Dipankar Sengupta said: “We can talk about the goals of the Islamic State in Afghanistan, but when it comes to the stability of the country, especially the stability of the Taliban government, the Taliban government believes that these attacks are true. Don’t bother with it at all. Yes, when they do try to attack the Taliban or Afghanistan, the Taliban do act, and they do so severely. What we’ve seen so far is that Jugalbandi (twins) where ISIS continues to be major against the Shiites, and the Taliban are more or less comfortable with that.”

ISIS has coordinated 15 specific plots from Afghanistan since the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, according to The Washington Post, which first reported it. The deadly suicide bomb that killed 13 US service members at Kabul International Airport in August 2021 was detonated by members of ISIS.

Abhijit Iyer Mitra, an expert on South Asian geopolitics, said of ISIS, “All power vacuums always lead to this terrorist organization, wherever it is. The United States stepped in to prevent this power vacuum. Twenty years later, you know, losing Drop the war, I mean what are they actually supposed to do? They just can’t keep throwing troops and money into a war that isn’t going anywhere. So they have to move out. I don’t think there’s a power vacuum this time Same big as last time. Last time, the Taliban actually allowed things to happen and that’s why they lost their status”.

Experts believe the U.S.-led withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan has given the Islamic State enough room to strengthen its footprint in the war-torn country.

According to Stanford, ISIS is trying to build a global movement of Salafi jihad, a religious-political Sunni Islamist ideology. Over the past few years, it has strengthened its footprint in South Asia and carried out several deadly attacks to signal its presence.

Focused on recruiting for its Khorasan offshoot, ISIS in South Asia has sought to use online networks and local politics to form groups and carry out sporadic attacks, the Newlines Institute, a US think tank, said.

The group poses the greatest threat in Afghanistan and Pakistan, countries reeling from decades of war, insurgency, poor governance and political instability compounded by complex terrain.

Commenting on the terrorist bombings, Sengupta said: “There is no doubt that the poor governance of these two countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan) has created the necessary vacuum not only for ISIS but for any fundamentalist group, basically forming and promoting Their vision of a perfect world to the disillusioned masses. But Pakistan’s central role in all of this cannot be taken away. Regardless of the period, from the sixties to the nineties to the present, Pakistan has been helping to create chaos in Afghanistan. “

ISIS has significant presence in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces because they border Afghanistan.

These provinces have witnessed frequent terrorist attacks by ISIS as the group looks to establish influence in the region. In March this year, the Islamic State launched a suicide bombing in the Sibi area of ​​​​Baluchistan province, killing nine policemen.

Commenting on ISIS Iyer Mitra commenting on why a terrorist group like ISIS was founded, “ISIS today, its position is that anyone can start it, anyone can claim to be ISIS. If you are violent enough and you have Destructive enough and you get some kind of ISIS endorsement. This model has been around for a long time. Of course, we know some of the elements here are independent militants in Afghanistan, but for the most part we’ve been able to A very important Pakistani hand can be found in this matter.”

According to the Newlines Institute, the Islamic State of Pakistan Province (ISPP) was formed in May 2019 with the apparent aim of gaining operational autonomy from the Khorasan branch and gathering factions of Pakistani militant groups such as the Taliban Movement of Pakistan, Lashkar- e-Jhangvi, Jaish-ul-Adl, Jundullah and Jaish-ul Islam, thereby attracting recruits by channeling local interests.

The group has also been found to be involved in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly targeting security forces.

The presence of Islamic State in the region has sounded alarm bells, as the group had declared the Islamic State of India in May 2019. This suggests that the Islamist group may intend to launch a violent campaign when the conditions are right. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)