The FBI says it discovered the stark black banner of the Islamic State extremist group from the truck that an American man from Texas rammed into New Year’s revelers in New Orleans’ French Quarter on Wednesday, killing 15 people.
The probe is anticipated to investigate into whether driver Shamsud-Din Jabbar received any backing or inspiration from that violent Middle Eastern gang, or from any of at least 19 linked groups around the world.
President Joe Biden stated Wednesday evening that the FBI informed him that “mere hours before the attack, (Jabbar) posted videos on social media indicating that he was inspired” by the Islamic State organization.
More than five years after being driven out of its self-proclaimed caliphate in Syria and Iraq by a US-led coalition, the Islamic State group has shifted its attention to gaining territory in the Middle East rather than mounting large al-Qaida-style assaults against the West.
However, in its native territory, the Islamic State organization has relished any opportunity to behead Americans and any foreigners who come into its grasp. And, while its popularity has waned in recent years, it has succeeded in inciting people all over the world who are driven to its philosophy to do heinous acts against innocent civilians.
Here’s an overview of the Islamic State, its current position, and some of the branch armed groups and so-called lone wolves who have killed under the Islamic State banner.
What is the Islamic State organization?
The Islamic State group is also known as IS and ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
It emerged as a splinter faction from al-Qaeda.
By 2014, IS, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had conquered vast swaths of land in Iraq and Syria. Within its power, it slaughtered and abused people of other faiths, as well as targeting fellow Sunni Muslims who deviated from its strict interpretation of Islam.
By 2019, a US-led military campaign had removed the Islamic State organization from every inch of its territory. That same year, al-Baghdadi committed suicide and killed two children nearby by detonating an explosive vest as US forces closed in on him.
Currently, the central Islamic State group is a dispersed and significantly degraded organization attempting to restore fighting strength and territory in Syria and Iraq. Experts warn that the gang is reorganizing itself there.
And the ISIS flag? Typically, it is a striking black banner with white Arabic calligraphy conveying an important principle of the Islamic faith. Countless Muslims around the world consider the group’s coercive violence as a distortion of their faith.
What is the Islamic State’s current influence?
Some scholars think that the Islamic State group is effective now because it serves as a brand, inciting both terrorist groups and individuals to carry out operations in which the group may not have a direct participation.
The Islamic State’s merciless ideology and military accomplishments have fueled allied groups across Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is a highly decentralized alliance.
Many offshoots have committed out devastating assaults, including a March 2024 bombing blamed on an Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan that killed over 130 people in a Moscow theater.
What is the group’s track record of inciting attacks in the United States?
The New Orleans shooting is the deadliest Islamic State-inspired incident on US soil in several years.
Other attacks over the last decade include a 2014 shooting spree by a husband-and-wife team in San Bernardino, California, and a 2016 massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, by a gunman who pledged his allegiance to al-Baghdadi on a 911 call and raged against the “filthy ways of the West.”
Those attacks coincided with an influx of thousands of Westerners, including Americans, who traveled to Syria in the hopes of joining the so-called caliphate.
Following those executions, the threat from radicalized adherents of the group looked to diminish in the United States. Defense Department attacks have killed other Islamic State group members, and the FBI has had great success in thwarting plots before they occur.
However, during the previous year, FBI officials have warned of a dramatically increased threat of international terrorism following Hamas’ assault in Israel in October 2023 and the subsequent Israeli strikes in Gaza.
The SITE intelligence organization said that IS followers were rejoicing in online chat groups on Wednesday.
“If it’s your brother, he’s a legend. “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great,” one person was quoted as saying.
