More than a week after a
devastating earthquake rattled northwestern Syria, killing more than 5,000 and
injuring many more, the battered country is now waking up to a chilling new
reality; Daesh is re-emerging.
اضافة اعلان
On Friday, news agencies
reported that at least
53 Syrians, including seven regime soldiers, were gunned
down by Daesh militants. An unspecified number of hostages were also taken. The
civilians were reportedly collecting truffles in the desert east of Homs, a
government-controlled province.
The massacre came a day after
US troops and soldiers of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) carried out a
helicopter raid in the eastern Syrian desert that killed a senior Daesh leader.
Four US servicemen were injured in the raid.
Reports have been circulating
that Daesh sleeper cells have become active in recent months, carrying out
attacks against US troops, SDF detention centers — where thousands of Islamist
militants are being held — and regime positions. Since Daesh was defeated in
2019, less attention has been directed at smaller groups that remain active in
the vast and empty swaths of
desert between Syria and Iraq. And several deadly
attacks, attributed to Daesh, against Iraqi soldiers occurred last year.
In fact, according to
Israel’s Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, in 2021,
Daesh operatives carried out 2,705 terrorist acts around the globe, usually
peaking during Ramadan, and with the group’s Iraq Province taking the lead in
terms of the number of terrorist acts that it carried out. The US Wilson Center
has confirmed that the “group continues to be a highly active and lethal
insurgent
force in the Middle East, particularly in rural Iraq and Syria.”
Contentious players
and controversial agendas
Leading the fight against the
militant group are the US and its local allies; in the case of Syria, it is the
non-state actor SDF, meanwhile, in Iraq, it relies more on the Iraqi army,
which is assisted on some occasions by
Iran-backed Shia militias, also known as
the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Both the SDF and the PMF are contentious
players with controversial political agendas.
In both Syria and Iraq the need for a strong central government with a professional national security force is a prerequisite for draining the swamp once and for all. While the role of the US and other nations is essential, securing a conclusive victory against Daesh cannot be achieved without strong central governments.
The US Defense Department
recently said that last year, the US Central Command conducted 313 operations
in Iraq and Syria
to defeat Daesh. It added that more than 95 percent of those
operations were in partnership with either the Iraqi security forces or the
SDF.
Notwithstanding the fact that
Daesh and its affiliates are active in other regions of the world, which means
that the group remains a source of global instability, its ability to regroup
at some lethal level in parts of
Syria and Iraq should be a cause of concern not
only for the two countries but to their immediate neighbors.
The fact that the group’s
nefarious ideology continues to attract young men and women should also worry
leaders in this part of the world. Islamist extremists, fighting under various
banners in parts of
Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the African Sahara, Nigeria,
the Horn of Africa, and sometimes even Europe and North America, should
indicate the need for increased efforts to confront, contain and eradicate such
groups.
In Syria and Iraq, the need
for a strong central government with a professional national security force is
a prerequisite for draining the swamp. While the role of the US and other
nations is essential, securing a conclusive victory against Daesh can only be
achieved with strong central governments.
Unfortunately, that is not
the case.
Foreign intervention is one
of the reasons for the endemic weakness of central governments in Syria and
Iraq. Each case is different, but in the end, Daesh has managed to survive in
one form or another, even after its major defeat a few years ago. The US
military presence in eastern Syria, also the area where Daesh is most active,
has failed to deliver that decisive victory.
While some will argue that Daesh’s geographical area of activity has been markedly reduced in both Syria and Iraq, the fact remains that weak and inept central governments are unable to spread their control over all their respective territories.
In one case, according to
Syrian researcher Mohammed Hassan writing for the Middle East Institute, the
Syrian government itself was implicated in releasing at least 200 militants in
southern Syria, especially in the Daraa Governorate, at different intervals. At
least two of those released contributed to the resurgence of Daesh cells in
that part of the country.
While some will argue that
Daesh’s geographical area of activity has been markedly reduced in both Syria
and Iraq, the fact remains that weak and inept central governments are unable
to spread their control over all their respective territories. The militant
group has survived thus far, and last week’s massacre proves that it can wage
attacks against hapless civilians, spreading terror and sending a clear
message.
It took enormous resources to
wage war against the so-called caliphate, but its defeat was a huge loss to
man, infrastructure, and archaeology. While the US cannot and should not stay
here forever, efforts should focus on finding sustainable ways to ensure that
the scourge of Daesh — or anything like it — does not emerge again.
Osama
Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman.
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