ISIS/ISIL/IS evolving tactics...

[Sam Slater]

We have seen over the years from Al Qaeda and such that they organise terror attacks, both in the west and in Muslim countries, by sending speakers to Mosques, influencing and using religion to groom mainly young, angry males. They are then, quite often, encouraged to travel and participate in military style camps in the middle east, sent back home and be part of small terror cells that plan terrorist attacks.

But over the past few months it seems ISIS has decided to do things differently. They aren't secretive, openly using social media and openly calling for fellow Muslims to join their Jihad. And how they encourage other Muslims to attack the west is changing too, abandoning small, organised terror cells in favour of random, lone-wolf style attacks that need no training or planning. Not as effective on their own, but if they become more widespread and common, they're almost impossible to stop or use counter intelligence against.

We have seen in the last few days 2 recent someone kill a reservist soldier in Canada and attempt to kill members of parliament, and today another attempting to kill police officers in New York with an axe. It could be just two mad-men, but they're both recent converts to Islam, and both talked of 'Islamist ideas'. Here is an extract from the latest issue of 'Dabiq', the online magazine for ISIS:

"If you are able to kill an American or European infidel?particularly any of the hostile, impure Frenchmen?or an Australian or a Canadian, or any [other] infidel enemy from the countries that have banded against the Islamic State, then put your trust in Allah and kill him, by any way or means. Do not consult anyone and do not seek a fatwa from anyone. It is immaterial if the infidel is a combatant or a civilian. Their sentence is one; they are both infidels, both enemies. The blood of both is permitted?"

and later,

"If you cannot [detonate] a bomb or [fire] a bullet, arrange to meet alone with a French or an American infidel and bash his skull in with a rock, slaughter him with a knife, run him over with your car, throw him off a cliff, strangle him, or inject him with poison."

The link to the magazine I'm quoting from:

Is this just a clever tactic to combat our intelligence services or desperation because terror groups in the west are finding it harder to plan attacks? And is this new way of fighting their jihad being seen already with 2 attacks very similar in style to how ISIS are encouraging young recruits to go about their attacks?

Personally, I see it as desperation. It's shouldn't even be considered guerrilla warfare. It is a call for a new form of terror, though, and as I say, harder to predict and react to.

Will we see similar attacks here? Thoughts?