ISIS Getting Weaker Despite Recent String of Attacks, Say Experts
On Thursday, April 20, a man pulled out an assault rifle and opened fire on a police van on Paris' most iconic boulevard, Champs-Élysées. The authorities returned fire, instantly killing 39-year-old Frenchman Karim Cheurfi, but not before the gunman took out a police officer and seriously injured two others.
Immediately, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack. The citizens were gripped by fear and panic. They blamed the government for failing to protect the public. But that's exactly what ISIS wants the public to feel — that they are helpless against the ominous presence of the terror group.
In reality, though, the attack was a cowardly means to conceal ISIS' waning influence especially in the battlefield, security experts suggest. Thanks to mounting pressure from coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, the terror group's ability to mount complex group attacks has weakened.
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Because of this, they have resorted to individual attacks that yield minimal casualties but perfectly timed in order to leave an impact — in this case, the last day of campaigning for the French election. The attack was successful in drawing worldwide attention, leaving the impression that the militant group continues to have global reach.
But for some observers, the latest attack masks ISIS' continuing weakening position to strike France. The country is actually one of the most vulnerable for attacks, being geographically closer to the group and also due to the free movement across the borders with Belgium and other neighboring countries.
Radicalization expert Farhad Khosrokhavar describes such attacks as symbolic last stands that are indications of ISIS' disintegration, "which mark the end of a jihadist state that followers... want to be endless but which is coming to an end."
This can be gleaned by comparing ISIS' past terroristic activities like the 2015 assault on Paris that killed 130 people.
