The killing al-Baghdadi does not reduce the threat from the Islamic State | The Indian Express

The killing al-Baghdadi does not reduce the threat from the Islamic State | The Indian Express

Written by Anju Gupta |Updated: October 31, 2019 11:41:19 am

The writer is an IPS officer. Views are personal

The killing al-Baghdadi does not reduce the threat from the Islamic State

Soon enough, the ISIS core will anoint a new Caliph, to whom all the wilayas (branches) and extremists and supporters will readily offer allegiance (bayat) to, while paying rich tribute to the “fallen hero”.

This image made from video posted on a militant website on Monday, April 29, 2019, purports to show the leader of the Islamic State group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, being interviewed by his group’s Al-Furqan media outlet. (Al-Furqan media via AP)

On October 26, during a raid by US Special Forces in a small compound in Barisha village in northwestern Syria, the top leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Abu Bakr-al-Baghdadi blew himself in a dead-end tunnel. While the “reality and success” of the operation are being hailed as well as disputed by countries with boots on the ground in Syria — and the ISIS is yet to react — it is almost certain that Baghdadi is dead. As a “leader on the run” for more than five years, Baghdadi was more of a symbol for a (virtual) Caliphate. Yet, his killing will only be a short-term setback for the network.