If you thought the Islamic State terror group had gone away, think again. Despite military defeat in Syria and Iraq, ISIS still has thousands of fighters with 25 affiliate groups around the world.
Now, western intelligence agencies are bracing for terror attacks after the group called for revenge against Christians. They’re angry after a Danish activist publicly burned a Quran in Sweden last month.
Protests erupted throughout the Islamic world after that Quran burning. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said while the burning was deeply disrespectful, it was protected under freedom of expression.
The Islamic State is pushing for payback on social media. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins March 23rd and last year’s observance saw 42 ISIS terror attacks in just 3 days.
The threat from ISIS is as real as ever, and intelligence agencies are on the lookout.
Security expert Eric Caron says that in the Middle East and Asia, ISIS never went away.
“They have approximately 16,000 fighters between Iraq and Syria. They control 6 million people in that region. They have franchises throughout the world. We’re talking probably around 25 franchises throughout Africa and Europe,” Caron says.
A recent United Nations report also shows the ISIS threat increasing. Africa has been called the world’s fastest-growing terrorist hotspot.
Terrorism expert and retired U.S. Army Colonel Sargis Sangari says while the U.S. had to defeat ISIS on the battlefield, that alone wasn’t enough to stop the movement.
“Look, you have to kill folks on the battlefield to take ground. But I don’t think we ever fought against the ideas that really resonate between the six inches of people’s foreheads,” Sangari said. “So, (ISIS) will continue to fight and will continue to take territory. It will continue to force individuals to convert or basically, die in the process.”
Tina Ramirez with the humanitarian group Hardwired Global calls the resurgence of ISIS a nightmare for people in the Middle East, both Christians and Muslims.
“ISIS used to hold court in the ancient city of Mosul and they would sentence Muslims, Christians, others to death, having their hands or legs chopped off. Thousands of women have been sexually enslaved. So the trauma that the entire community went through was horrific,” Ramirez said.
ISIS is encouraging Muslims to use any method to kill westerners, including trucks and nail guns. Caron believes the U.S. could be very vulnerable to a major terrorist attack.
“The southern border, the northern border is wide open. And we know that there’s over 55 million shipping containers that come into America. Less than two percent are examined,” Caron said. “We need to take the gloves off and understand that this threat is not going away. It’s only increased in the last few years. The idea that they don’t want to attack us again like a 9/11, but even bigger, is foolish. They want to destroy America.”
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