on Saturday morning, it succeeded in Syria’s Democratic Forces (SDF) to take Islamic State (IS) last bastion in Syria – and thus the brutal terrororganisationens self-proclaimed caliphate razed to the ground.
But it in no way means that the ICE is dead and buried. The u.s. authorities estimate according to the BBC, that the ICE still has 15-20.000 soldiers in the region. Many of them have gone under the ground and awaiting the next move.
War & disasters – 23. mar. 2019 – at. 07:50 Syrian militia declares final victory over Islamic State
at the same time believed the world’s most wanted man – IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – is still to be on the loose. Previously, he has survived several assassination attempt. Most recently in February, where he will, according to the british newspaper the Guardian, was sought wound up by a attentatmand, which belonged to the earth in ICE.
the 47-year-old al-Baghdadi, survived and according to nyhedsbureauret Reuters, assesses the us authorities, that he right now is in Iraq. There is also still a bounty of 25 million. dollars from the u.s. authorities for information about al-Baghdadi, who can get at him.
the ICE under al-Baghdadi’s leadership has been responsible for thousands of civilian death, including the brutal executions of foreign hostages, and terrorist attacks all over the world.
The u.s. government bounty.
It was back in June 2014, al-Baghdadi proclaimed the establishment of a caliphate, after having captured large areas in Syria and Iraq.
And even though the caliphate was now physically gone, so is IS far from defeated, warns Lars Cramer-Larsen, senior analyst in international security at the Danish Institute for International Studies (Diis).
– The caliphate, which had previously an extent of the size of the Uk, is now destroyed, in the sense that the physical part is over.
– But it will be a fatal fallacy to believe that the Islamic State is defeated, he says to Ritzau.
the Center for Terroranalyse under PET vurdererede in January 2018, of which at least 150 people travelled from Denmark to Syria/Iraq, where they have stayed with militant islamist groups, including primarily the ICE. The majority are younger men. At least 25 percent of those presumed killed, while a third had gone back to Denmark. The rest were still in the conflict zone or in different third countries.
It is unknown, whether there have been Danish fremmedkrigere with at the most recent battles in Syria, where the last IS-controlled territory was taken.
the CTA has in the past repeatedly warned against the persons, who returns to Denmark after having stayed with groups like ICE cream. In the CTA’s assessment of the terrorist threat against Denmark from 2018, it appears, among other things, that:
– People who have stayed with militant islamist groups, such as ICE cream, gained the capacity to terrorism and can be especially radicalised, brutalised and voldsparate on their return. This applies in particular for men but also for women. CTA assesses that even a few people who had to return home, may pose a terror threat against Denmark. It can also increase the threat against Danish interests abroad, if such persons are travelling to other countries. Returnees fremmedkrigere to other european countries may also pose a threat to Denmark.