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Sri Lankan Bombings Show ISIS Maintains Influence after End of Caliphate
(Washington Post) Shane Harris - The coordinated attacks in Sri Lanka that killed at least 359 people demonstrated that ISIS can still sow carnage beyond the borders of its former "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria. Rita Katz, co-founder of the SITE Intelligence Group, a terrorism analysis organization, said, "The Sri Lanka blasts were both sophisticated and well-coordinated, making it very likely that the attackers received some sort of training and assistance from ISIS - possibly from one of the group's bases in the Philippines or elsewhere in the region." Juan Zarate, a former U.S. deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism, said, "I do think it is possible that ISIS has communicated directly or embedded with these local groups and found a way of helping plot, amplify and supercharge their capabilities and operational effectiveness on the ground. The ISIS diaspora and expertise is real, and ISIS has global designs." "Defeat of the physical caliphate in Iraq and Syria was never going to be the end of the ISIS challenge," said Nicholas Rasmussen, a former senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council.