With logistics of terrorist operations across international borders becoming highly organised, militants challenging sovereign states with more hubris and innocent civilians increasingly coming under attacks, the institutionalisation of terror seems to be closer, if not complete. The arrogance with which the Islamic State declared bringing down the Russian airliner over the lawless Sinai region in Egypt signalled how potent and dangerous the terror group had become. It challenged Russia and Egypt to first probe how the plane had crashed. It would then reveal its modus operandi, the terror group said in the aftermath of the crash that killed all 224 on board. IS on Wednesday came out with the picture of the bomb that was used to blow up the plane. A Schweppes soft drink can was used to pack explosives that proved fatal for so many people.
The attacks in Paris that killed 129 people across several spots in the French capital further pointed out that IS was gaining ground rapidly. The large number of casualties and the efficiency with which the attacks were executed added to the fearsome image of the terrorist group that has conquered swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, terrorising millions and forcing air strikes by a Washington-led international coalition.
The Paris attacks have sown unprecedented fear among locals that has reverberated across borders. So terrorised are Parisians that even loud noises are startling them. Though the largely intimidated French population has stood united in a spirit of unprecedented camaraderie, the milieu of fear is all-pervasive.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls yesterday warned of the threat of chemical and biological attack by IS. French parliament yesterday voted to extend the state of emergency as the government struggles to balance the crackdown on the group with the probability of a backlash by the militants. If the threat of chemical and biological attacks is credible, it suggests that IS has become a major destructive force that needs to be crushed with pitiless ruthlessness.
That France came down heavily on the IS attackers is clear from the nature of the raid security forces carried out near Paris on Wednesday. As the intensity of the swoop by French special forces became clear, France yesterday announced that the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, had been killed. The killing of the IS jihadist is likely to give a fillip to the morale of the French security apparatus and increase the likelihood that other links in the terror chain would soon be revealed.
Nations have been speaking in unison about the need to exterminate IS and the chorus against the group has become louder after the attacks. However, the international community is divided on how to go about it. It is this indecisiveness that could lead to further consolidation of IS.
With logistics of terrorist operations across international borders becoming highly organised, militants challenging sovereign states with more hubris and innocent civilians increasingly coming under attacks, the institutionalisation of terror seems to be closer, if not complete. The arrogance with which the Islamic State declared bringing down the Russian airliner over the lawless Sinai region in Egypt signalled how potent and dangerous the terror group had become. It challenged Russia and Egypt to first probe how the plane had crashed. It would then reveal its modus operandi, the terror group said in the aftermath of the crash that killed all 224 on board. IS on Wednesday came out with the picture of the bomb that was used to blow up the plane. A Schweppes soft drink can was used to pack explosives that proved fatal for so many people.
The attacks in Paris that killed 129 people across several spots in the French capital further pointed out that IS was gaining ground rapidly. The large number of casualties and the efficiency with which the attacks were executed added to the fearsome image of the terrorist group that has conquered swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, terrorising millions and forcing air strikes by a Washington-led international coalition.
The Paris attacks have sown unprecedented fear among locals that has reverberated across borders. So terrorised are Parisians that even loud noises are startling them. Though the largely intimidated French population has stood united in a spirit of unprecedented camaraderie, the milieu of fear is all-pervasive.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls yesterday warned of the threat of chemical and biological attack by IS. French parliament yesterday voted to extend the state of emergency as the government struggles to balance the crackdown on the group with the probability of a backlash by the militants. If the threat of chemical and biological attacks is credible, it suggests that IS has become a major destructive force that needs to be crushed with pitiless ruthlessness.
That France came down heavily on the IS attackers is clear from the nature of the raid security forces carried out near Paris on Wednesday. As the intensity of the swoop by French special forces became clear, France yesterday announced that the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, had been killed. The killing of the IS jihadist is likely to give a fillip to the morale of the French security apparatus and increase the likelihood that other links in the terror chain would soon be revealed.
Nations have been speaking in unison about the need to exterminate IS and the chorus against the group has become louder after the attacks. However, the international community is divided on how to go about it. It is this indecisiveness that could lead to further consolidation of IS.
