Daesh ‘Demon’ Lingers to Haunt Europe Despite Imminent Defeat in Middle East
SputnikNews.com
25.03.2017
Daesh is facing military defeat in Iraq and Syria, but the group’s propaganda arm is tougher to subdue, Wieland Schneider writes in the Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
The amount of Syrian and Iraqi territory controlled by Daesh has decreased significantly after concerted efforts by government forces, with foreign assistance.
In 2016, the amount of territory controlled by Daesh in Iraq and Syria decreased by around a quarter to 60.4 thousand sq. km, the Russian ambassador to Syria Alexander Kinshchak told Sputnik earlier this month.
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the terror group formerly known as al-Nusra Front, controlled one fifth of Syria in 2015. With help from Russian aerospace forces, the Syrian Army has managed to reduce this proportion to no more than 10-12 percent, Kinshchak said.
Despite these successes, Wednesday’s attack in London is a reminder that Daesh maintains the ability to strike Europe. Khalid Masood murdered three passers-by and a policeman in an attack that was characterized as a “terrorist attack” and claimed by Daesh, although there is no evidence that the terror group had any prior knowledge of the attack.
Daesh and al-Qaeda have called on followers to carry out attacks using cars or other weapons which are easily obtainable.
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