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Daesh must never be allowed to regroup
[ARABNEWS] Five months after the last ISIS stronghold in Syria was overrun by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), there are worrying signs that fighters belonging to the now defunct self-proclaimed caliphate are regrouping.The US envoy to the international coalition fighting ISIS, James Jeffrey, told news hounds in Washington last week that thousands of the Death Eater organization’s members scattered around Syria and Iraq remained a global threat. US State Department counterterrorism coordinator, Nathan Sales, also told news hounds that "ISIS branches and networks now span the African continent from east to west and north to south," and he claimed that around 1,200 ISIS fighters were now in Europe  ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...with more trying to cross borders. He warned that while ISIS had taken on much of the world’s focus, al-Qaeda had rebuilt itself and was as strong as ever. Coinciding with these statements, a UN report by specialists released last week warned that a recent pause in international terrorist violence may soon end, with a new wave of attacks possible before the end of the year. It pointed to the fact that many of the estimated 30,000 imported muscle who travelled to the "caliphate" to fight may still be alive. The report, which is based on information supplied by intelligence agencies of UN member states, concluded that "some may join al-Qaeda or other terrorist brands that may emerge," adding that the threat from ISIS and al-Qaeda, or similar groups is unlikely to decline further. The report warned that the threat to Europe remained high. Last week ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... which killed 13 coppers. ISIS is active in Afghanistan, according to various reports. This is not the time for complacency. The 80-member anti-ISIS international coalition must mobilize to make sure that ISIS or any other Death Eater group does not reform or dig roots in the region and beyond. One area where international cooperation is urgently required is in Syria ‐ a country still embroiled in civil war and where a number of state and non-state actors are vying for control. There are literally thousands of imported muscle and their families in make-shift prisons awaiting repatriation. With minimum oversight of these incarceration centers the possibility of some fighters finding their way back into the open desert is high. ISIS emerged out of the chaos and vacuum that plagued Syria and Iraq following 2011. It took massive international and regional military and intelligence resources to defeat the group. Posted by: Fred 2019-08-07 |
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