Islamic State eyes India, Sri Lanka as next operational hub: report
The monitor showed that the increase in its activity outside West Asia -- mostly across South Asia and Africa-- is drastic.
New Delhi: India, Turkey, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are among the countries where radical terror group Islamic State (IS) is eyeing to foot its influence as its hold in the territories of origin (Iran and Syria) is loosening drastically, Hindustan Times reported.
A US-based leading conflict monitor, Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), has indicated that the radical outfit, in its first, had carried out more activities outside West Asia than inside and also restructured its group, under the directions of its leader Abubakr al-Baghdadi.
“The IS greeted its loss of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2018 with expanded global presence in 2019,” said the ACLED report titled Branching Out: Islamic State’s Continued Expansion. “Through the first five months this year, the IS has placed unprecedented emphasis on its global operations… In his first video in five years (after the Sri Lanka Easter bombings in April), Baghdadi focused largely on the group’s activity in South Asia, North, West and Central Asia.”
The report reflected that IS is active and proliferating in India, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, DR Congo, Burkina Faso, Mali and Libya.
The monitor showed that the increase in its activity outside West Asia -- mostly across South Asia and Africa-- is drastic. In 2019, more that 60 per cent movements and exercises were carried out outside group's origin-territory. In 2018, the activity outside West Asia was limited to 45 per cent and it was as low as 20 per cent in 2016 and 2017.