“He died like a dog, he died like a coward, the world is now
a much safer place…” this was President Trump message after US troops in North-West
Syria reported the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr-Al Baghdadi on
Sunday.
The death came as victorious to United States and coalition
allies ( Iraq and the Syrian Democratic Forces), but the international media says
it is a recipe for a new wave of terrorism.
Just like Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda led group gave birth to
ISIS, Al-Baghdadi’s death should not be celebrated thoughtlessly.
According to BBC, factors that propelled ISIS in 2013, 2014
are’ worryingly still there’, including chaos and bad governance, which are
still rife for the group to flourish.
“It is not mission accomplished and I think there’s a risk
here of triumphalism, … ISIS is still there, it’s got sleeper cells, it’s got
flowers, it’s got weapons, ammunition, bomb making equipment and it will carry
on doing attacks. ” said BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner, in a report published
on BBC news.
CNN reports that, the group ‘is far from finished’, with its
operations in African countries including West Africa, Libya, Egypt’s and the
Sinai Peninsula, Afghanistan, the Philippines, coupled with followers in Europe
and elsewhere in the world.
Additionally, there are more than 18,000 fighters still on
the loose between Syria and Iraq, according to a report issued by the Pentagon’s
Inspector General in August.
CNN report adds that Baghdadi may have excelled in his evil
mission, but he was at the top of a pyramid of power and others will come
forward to claim his mantle of leadership.
ISIS diehards and loyal followers have stressed their
allegiance to ad-Dawla al-Islamiya –the Islamic State –and not to its leader.
“ISIS is not going to disappear. It may morph into something
else, just as Osama bin Laden’s Arab mujahideen morphed into al Qaeda, which
gave birth to al Qaeda in Iraq, which transformed into ISIS,” CNN report.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed himself during a raid by US
commandos in north-west Syria on Sunday night.
Baghdadi rose to prominence in 2014, when he announced the
creation of a “caliphate” in areas of Iraq and Syria.
Discussion about this post