(Ynet News) Ron Ben-Yishai - According to the UN, the Islamic State still has 30,000 fighters in underground cells in Iraq and Syria. ISIS also has thousands of fighters in the Sinai Peninsula battling the Egyptian army, as well as active and murderous groups in Nigeria, Pakistan, France and Belgium. And this is only a partial list. While al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had delegated much of his authority to al-Qaeda's local leadership before his 2011 killing, Baghdadi was deeply involved in ISIS' daily operations. The removal of Baghdadi may affect the morale of the Sunni jihadists now concentrated in Idlib province in Syria. Baghdadi's death is an extraordinary success for the Americans and their ability to gather and analyze accurate intelligence and produce a commando operation in the heart of a region held by the extremist and skilled Salafi-Sunni jihadists. The writer, a veteran Israeli war correspondent, received the Israel Prize in 2018.
2019-10-28 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive