ISIS Plans to Expand Its Influence by Exploiting the Earthquake Disaster… Details

The terrorist organization has been active in trying to take advantage of the devastating earthquakes that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria. The organization has found a golden opportunity to return to places it lost in recent years. The leadership of the organization has taken advantage of the humanitarian disaster to carry out a number of kidnappings of civilians, numbering 75, working to collect food in the beginning. Twelve of them were executed, and the fate of 63 people remains unknown.

Exploiting the human catastrophe

ISIS moved quickly after the disaster, taking advantage of the preoccupation of the security services in trying to rescue the earthquake victims, and succeeded in smuggling a number of its members from a prison in western Syria called “Raju” area on the border with Turkey, after a riot took place inside the prison, which has more than 2,000 people on its walls, the majority of whom belong to the ISIS terrorist organization.

Following this incident, the Washington Post talked about, confirming that ISIS will carry out several terrorist operations in the coming days, using these fugitives to carry out its plan. The American newspaper noted that ISIS will not leave the opportunity for security breaches in some areas of Syria after the earthquake without taking advantage of them, and will try to regain part of its previous mandate.

ISIS Threat

Ahmed Kamel al-Beheiri, a researcher on terrorist groups, said the new massacre committed by ISIS against citizens working to collect food in the desert has sparked public anger and calls to curb the return of the terrorist group. Al-Beheiri wants to prove himself once again and is benefiting from concern about the earthquake disaster.

Al-Beheiri added that there are negative repercussions of the increasing terrorist operations on relief and response operations in the context of addressing the repercussions of the devastating earthquake, which affected millions of Syrians, especially in the areas declared by the Syrian government, adding that the world now wants to know how the terrorist group can move and carry out attacks, and use a communication, movement, support and supply system, at a time when the forces of many countries say they are fighting against it, and what are its new plans.