It has been a year of terror for France. In the latest episode, Muslim extremists, citing France’s role in air strikes against them in Syria, launched coordinated attacks on four centres in Paris on Friday. The blood-soaked offensive killed 129 people, leaving 99 critically injured. President François Hollande blamed the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria for the attacks, aptly describing them as an “act of war.” He said, “France is at war with ISIS,” and vowed to wage “a merciless war” against them.
The shootings and bombings, linked to seven terrorists, including Ismaël Mostefä, who became radicalised, occurred in the night outside Stade de France, where France were playing Germany in a football match, the Bataclan theatre, and in open air restaurants at Rue Bichet and Rue de Charonne. Four people, three suicide bombers and a bystander, died outside the stadium; 89 people died at the Bataclan concert.
Hollande, who was watching the match, responded decisively. Refusing to be cowed, he authorised more air strikes against ISIS, declared three days of national mourning and proclaimed a state of emergency, giving French authorities sweeping powers. On Monday, Hollande asked the French parliament to extend the state of emergency. Abdeslam Salah, the eighth suspected attacker, is being hunted by the police. But security agents arrested 23 suspects, with 109 under house arrests the same day, and carried out 150 raids in eight cities across France.
In claiming responsibility for the savagery, ISIS called the attackers “martyrs.” It warned of further attacks on Washington and other countries if they did not stop “striking Muslims in the caliphate with their aircraft.” ISIS’ sole aim, according to its online magazine, is to “direct the masses back to the prophetic manhaj of jihad and away from the corruption of democracy and nationalism, and unite them under one imam… carrying the banner of truth.” In a dawn raid at the Saint-Denis area of Paris on Wednesday, police arrested seven more people, while two bombers who were reportedly planning fresh attacks on La Defense, a Paris business district, died.
Seeing that the attacks represent a new frontier in the global jihadist campaign, world leaders have condemned them and pledged to intensify the battle against ISIS. Belgium, where some of the dead suspects were said to have grown up, is cooperating with French authorities. In Alsdorf, German police arrested two suspects on Tuesday in connection with the attacks, making a total of seven arrests. Russia also joined the French forces to conduct air strikes against ISIS positions on Tuesday. This is welcome. British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said, “The barbaric terrorist attacks in Paris have shocked the world – but also united us in our unwavering resolve to defeat this evil.”
ISIS has been infiltrating Europe lately through the migration of displaced people from Syria and other Arab countries. Hollande said that France had confirmed that ISIS terrorists were mixing with the migrants to flee to Europe with intent on causing mayhem. In the Paris attacks, a Greek passport used by a Syrian refugee was found near the body of one of the attackers. The theory that terrorists have infiltrated the ranks of refugees could not be dismissed. Already, Hungary and Poland have rejected the European Union proposals to accept refuges from the Middle East following the ISIS barbarism in Paris.
Unlike the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain, which had suffered serious terrorist attacks, starting from the 9/11 onslaughts, attacks on France were not common until this year. The first major incidents occurred on January 7 when terrorists attacked the cartoon newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, in Paris. They killed 17 people. In June, an Islamist beheaded his boss in an attempt to blow up a US-owned gas plant in Lyon. A month later, a gunman wounded three people on a high-speed train before he was overpowered.
To stop the ISIS onslaught, it is high time the global community stopped treating the organisation with kid gloves. ISIS is expanding its sphere of influence around the world, using factionalised and weak states as bases to launch attacks on the rest of humanity. Not surprisingly, it has sympathisers in the Middle East and other parts of the world, which is aiding its rapid spread. Tony Blair, a former British Prime Minister, warned, “The reality is that in parts of the Muslim community, a discourse has grown up which is profoundly hostile to peaceful co-existence.” This dangerous trend must be addressed.
ISIS sees itself as a potent terror force without borders. It has gained notoriety for heinous crimes. It will be presumptive to underrate its capacity to achieve its mission of establishing a global caliphate. And, if, as predicted by a late former Harvard University professor, Samuel Huntington, that modern wars would be fought between cultures and that Islamic extremism would become the greatest threat to the Western world, it will be dangerous not to act fast.
On Tuesday, Russia said it confirmed that its A321 Metrojet that crashed in the Sinai last month was blown up by terrorists. Thus, the European Union, in conjunction with the United States, Russia and China, has to wake up to the reality of the danger that salafists pose to humanity and unite to face it down. The West also has to face the harsh reality that it might need to put boots on the ground, something it has been shying away from since Syria started splintering in 2011, and review its open door immigration policy.
At home, the Nigerian military, which has been making a headway against Boko Haram insurgents, cannot afford to ease up until the terrorists have been uprooted from their safe haven in the North-East. On Tuesday night, a suicide bomb ripped through a packed crowd in Yola, Adamawa State capital, killing 32 people and injuring 80. Less than 24 hours later,another explosion stung Kano killing scores in a busy market. Even as they are fleeing to other parts of the country, it is crucial for the security agencies to work in tandem and apprehend the fleeing Boko Haram operatives who will still try to cause havoc anywhere they go through suicide bombing and gun attacks.
