Amid Battlefield Losses, ISIS Seeks New Recruits With Attacks in Egypt, Britain, Iran, Philippines
Like a malignant cancer, the Islamic State (ISIS) is trying to metastasize to other parts of the world, including Egypt, Britain, Iran, and the Philippines
With the ISIS tumor shrinking in Iraq and Syria as a result of the relentless all-out military campaign being waged by the multinational anti-jihadist coalition, the terrorist group is trying to divert attention from its losses and gain new supporters around the world by using the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to launch new attacks in other parts of the world, the Associated Press reported.
The attacks it has launched during Ramadan revealed the terrorist group's ambitious plans to gain more followers: expand to the Philippines and target Iran, something its extremist rival al-Qaeda has never risked doing, analysts said.
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"They can say here is something that al-Qaeda has refrained to do," said Assaf Moghadam, an author and analyst of jihadi groups. "From their perspective it's been a great Ramadan so far."
The attack on Iran marked a new stage in the ISIS grand plan for global jihad.
Five battle-tested ISIS extremists simultaneously targeted Iran's parliament and shrine of late founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, killing 17 people.
That particular attack, analysts said, shows the group's determined bid to gain new recruits.
On Monday, the ISIS urged its followers to launch more attacks in Europe, citing the Manchester and London Bridge terrorists as "role models," the Daily Express reported.
An audio message believed to have come from an ISIS spokesman urged the group's followers to launch attacks in the United States, Europe, Russia, Australia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and the Philippines during Ramadan, which began on May 26 and ends on June 24.
In the besieged Philippine city of Marawi, a pro-ISIS group is still holding hostage hundreds of civilians, with local authorities estimating that the number of trapped civilians, including children, could be as high as 1,500.
U.S. special forces have joined Philippine troops in trying to retake parts of the city still under the militants' control, according to the Daily Express.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte earlier revealed that "[Abu Bakr] Baghdadi himself, the leader of the ISIS, has specifically ordered terroristic activities here in the Philippines."
