ISIS-Inspired Terror Attacks Strike US Soil 7 Times



Investigators probing the deadly New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans say suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar flew an ISIS flag on the back of the pick-up truck he used to mow down dozens of innocent revelers – killing at least 14 of them. Jabbar, a former Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, joined ISIS before this summer and posted several videos on Facebook declaring support for the group before he carried out the heinous attack, FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raja said.

ISIS, also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is a breakaway terrorist group from al-Qaeda that has conducted and inspired terrorist attacks around the world, causing thousands of deaths and injuries, according to the Director of National Intelligence. The group’s ideology is based on Sunni Islamist beliefs and seeks to establish a global caliphate, a global Islamic state governed by a strict interpretation of Sharia law.

ISIS has been known to carry out beheadings, systematic rape, and other forms of violence, targeting those who do not adhere to its strict interpretation of Islam. The group’s roots can be traced back to 2004, when an Iraqi extremist network led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi merged with al-Qaeda to form ISIS’s predecessor group, al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). ISIS declared its caliphate in 2014, taking over vast swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria.

In the US, ISIS has inspired several terrorist attacks, including the 2016 Pulse Nightclub massacre, which killed 49 people; the 2015 San Bernardino shooting, which killed 14; the 2017 New York City bike path attack, which killed 8; the 2016 Ohio State University attack, which injured 11; and the 2017 New York City subway bombing, which injured 3. The FBI does not provide exact figures on the number of ISIS-inspired attacks in the US, but experts say the group is still a threat and inspires “lone wolf” attacks.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are working to track down and disrupt ISIS’s operations, which have become more decentralized over the years. While the group’s territorial caliphate has been lost, its ideology and propaganda continue to inspire violent extremism globally.

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