Islamic StateIslamic State Poised for Comeback, U.S. Defense Officials Report
U.S. defense and intelligence officials say the special forces operation that killed former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria last October has done little to hinder the terror group. Instead, the Defense Intelligence Agency warns the organization’s command and control structure, as well as many of its clandestine networks remain intact, and recent turmoil in the region due to Turkey’s incursion into northeastern Syria has played to its advantage.
U.S. defense and intelligence officials say the special forces operation that killed former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria last October has done little to hinder the terror group.
Instead, the Defense Intelligence Agency warns the organization’s command and control structure, as well as many of its clandestine networks remain intact, and recent turmoil in the region due to Turkey’s incursion into northeastern Syria has played to its advantage.
“ISIS exploited the Turkish incursion and subsequent drawdown of U.S. troops to reconstitute capabilities and resources within Syria and strengthen its ability to plan attacks abroad,” according to Defense Department Principal Inspector General Glenn Fine in a new report, using an acronym for the terror group.
And should the U.S. be forced to pull troops from Iraq following protests there, “ISIS would likely resurge,” Fine added, citing additional DIA analysis.
Rallying around a New IS Leader
The findings come less than a week after U.S. defense officials revealed the true identity of Baghdadi’s replacement, cautioning he appears to have IS positioned to eventually make its presence felt in the region, and perhaps on the world stage.
Presented to the world as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, defense officials confirmed to VOA last week he is actually Hajji Abdallah, a religious scholar who helped engineer the campaign to slaughter Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority.
While some global intelligence agencies have doubted whether Qurashi can serve as an effective leader, U.S. officials have seen little evidence of a drop-off.
Under Qurashi’s leadership, IS has retained a “continuity of operations, global cohesion and at least its current trajectory,” the DIA told the inspector general.
Separately, U.S. counterterrorism officials tell VOA they believe Qurashi has done enough to keep IS from splintering.
“ISIS supporters worldwide have rallied around the new caliph,” a senior counterterrorism official said, pointing to the social media campaign of IS fighters and followers pledging allegiance to Qurashi.
A speech issued last week by the new IS spokesman, Abu Hamza al-Qurashi, likewise rallied followers around familiar themes of endurance and survival.
Still, U.S. defense and intelligence officials caution that IS has not been overly ambitious, telling the inspector general the terror group has limited itself to carrying out a series of small-scale attacks, both in Iraq and in Syria, while making no attempts to hold or retake territory.
