TERRORISMISIS: An Enduring Threat
ISIS remains an enduring security threat and its narrative has sustained through the attacks and propaganda carried out by its affiliates. Socio-political grievances and religious repression will continue fueling support for ISIS. There is a lack of global appetite to counter the ISIS threat due to geopolitical confrontations and armed conflicts raging worldwide
ISIS remains a significant security threat despite territorial losses and collapse of the physical Caliphatein March 2019. This is due to its adaptability, resilience, global reach and ideological appeal.1 The ISIS recently used the Paris Olympics and EUFA Euro Games, two high-profile events, to incite its followers to target Jewish and Western targets. ISIS owes its continued notoriety and relevance to its potent wilayats (provinces/affiliates), mainly Islamic State in Khorasan Province or ISKP, sleeper cells and lone-wolves who remain inspired by its Salafi-Jihadi ideology.
The widespread violence unleashed by ISIS central and its affiliates in the first six months of 2024 has resulted in at least 3,749 casualties as a result of approximately 778 attacks across 16 countries,2 with Russia being the worst-affected. As per the GTI Report 2024 released by the Institute of Economics and Peace, ISIS remains the deadliest terrorist group for the ninth consecutive year, claiming the maximum number of attacks and deaths from terrorist activities. At least 1,636 deaths and 470 attacks can be attributed to ISIS central and its affiliates in 2023.& Peace, February 2024.">3 There is a greater coordination of tactics, strategies, and terror financing between various ISIS affiliates. For example, Maktab al-Karrar’s global financing network—overseeing Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Somalia and various parts of Southern, Eastern and Central Africa—reportedly financed ISKP’s attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul in August 2021.
Media propaganda—ranging from hailing lone-wolf attacks against Jewish or Western targets, calling on supporters to carry out more attacks, and denigrating its enemy groups, states, or movements to expand its support base—has remained central to ISIS’ strategy to sustain its narrative and influence. It has disseminated its propaganda through multilingual radio broadcasts and publications (targeting local population), telegram messaging, artificial intelligence (AI) and decentralized terror networks.
