Undeterred by U.S. Offensive, ISIS Now Eying Europe
By Rakesh Raman
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is now determined to extend its territory into Europe after conquering large areas of Iraq and Syria, which are now part of the Islamic State or its so-called ‘Caliphate.’
Currently, ISIS holds a state which is at least equivalent to the geographical area of the U.K. But it has already planned to move beyond Iraq and Syria in order to expand its regime. Its next target: Europe.
Of late, the terrorist outfit revealed its strategy and plan of action to a visiting German author Jürgen Todenhöfer, who visited the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria with its permission to know about the life in the ISIS-controlled areas.
Todenhöfer, who was given a written protection assurance by ISIS, interviewed the militants to know their views and future plan of action. In the interviews, the ISIS fighters told Todenhöfer that God will help them conquer all the countries of the world including the U.S. and they were planning to enter Europe.
[ Also Read: ISIS Controls Derna in Libya; Nearing European Union ]
In a recent interview with CNN, Todenhöfer revealed that the videos showing beheading of hostages is part of ISIS’ strategy to instill a feeling of fear in the minds of its enemies. That’s one of the reasons that enemies run away when ISIS fighters come, said Todenhöfer, adding that the other terrorist outfit al-Qaeda is nothing in comparison with ISIS.
Todenhöfer also revealed that while most ISIS fighter are young and come from different parts of the world, there is an incredible enthusiasm among them to fight for ISIS.
[ Also Read: Islamic State Is Now a Global Player: John Cantlie ]
Moreover, Todenhöfer believes that it’s a wrong strategy of the U.S. and its allies to carry out airstrikes against ISIS, because it will not have any impact on ISIS fighters who always stay dispersed in an entire city.
For example, according to Todenhöfer, just 5,000 ISIS fighters live among 3 million civilians in the city of Mosul, Iraq, and if you have to kill these 5,000 fighters you will have to destroy the whole city.
“If you want to fight down ISIS, it can only be through moderate Sunnis (Sunni Muslims) who can win the battle against radical ISIS. Western countries can’t defeat ISIS; only Arabs can defeat ISIS, and only Sunni Arabs can fight down ISIS,” Todenhöfer suggested.
Todenhoefer also visited the mosque from where the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Bagdadi, delivered his only public speech.
By Rakesh Raman, the managing editor of RMN Company
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