ISIS In Syria: Batar’s Arrest And Hopes Of A Possible Alternative Narrative

The US military has reported that an ISIS officer has been arrested during a helicopter raid carried out in eastern Syria with the assistance of Syrian forces. The US Armed Forces Unified Combatant Command announced that Batar, an ISIS official in Syria involved in plotting attacks on detention centres and in the fabrication of improvised explosive devices, was detained during the mission. According to Centcom, no civilians nor military personnel were killed or hurt during the raid.

This event is but the latest in a long history of war between the West and the terrorist organization known as ISIS. Indeed, it was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who established the transnational paramilitary terrorist group known as ISIS. The BBC article “Who was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi?” published in October 2019 describes how on June 29, 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi crowned himself the “Caliph of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” and announced the foundation of a caliphate in those countries. The threat posed by Islamic fundamentalism shocked the entire West, resulting in fatalities, injuries, and acts of terror. Unprecedented pro-democracy demonstrations took place in March 2011 and were illustrated in April of the same year by the article “Syrian troops shoot dead protesters in a day of turmoil” in The Guardian.

The Assad regime, in place since 2000 after Bashar Al-Assad’s father’s death, was called upon to fall. Police, military troops and violence were utilized by the government to stop the protests. Armed confrontation increased in frequency and, by September 2011, organized rebel militias were fighting alongside government forces in urban areas. An escalation in violence in the country’s northwest towards the end of 2019 led to a truce in February 2020. However, beyond the northwest conflict lines, airstrikes, shelling, and ground combat have increased, killing hundreds of civilians and uprooting swathes of people. After numerous years of war and crisis in Syria, significant humanitarian needs are still a necessity in diverse locations across the area. However, in 2020, the balance of power shifted, and the Syrian government solidified its hold on a sizable portion of the country.

Moreover, food insecurity has increased as a result of the recession, following an increase in unemployment. The pandemic worsened the unstable situation nationwide by raising the unemployment rate and the risk of the virus spreading. Moreover, 42% of the population uses contaminated water sources as a result of the fighting. In addition to the drama of war, Turkey and Syria have recently experienced earthquakes, with very few efficient humanitarian routes in place to help the injured and displaced. A multifaceted strategy combining military, political, and economic measures is needed to combat the ISIS menace. While it has been necessary to use military force to stop the group from expanding its territory, a long-term solution must take into consideration the underlying issues that allowed ISIS to form and flourish in the first place. Extremist organisations such as ISIS have grown because of the Syrian war and various other crises in the area. Long-term stability therefore depends on resolving the underlying political, economic, and social issues that motivate people to support these movements. It is essential to foster trust and reconciliation between various groups in Syria and Iraq to lower sectarian and ethnic tensions that have fuelled extremist groups. Indeed, providing a credible alternative and thus empowering local communities to take charge of their security and economic growth might help lessen the attraction of extremist groups. This would address the fact that ISIS and other extremist organizations have recruited and radicalized people worldwide using social media and propaganda tactics.

Governments and civil society groups can work together to resist this propaganda and promote alternative narratives. The attraction of extremist groups can be diminished by diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian conflict, advance regional stability, and address concerns among various populations. By helping those impacted by the violence, we can lessen the attraction of extremist groups and address the immediate needs of vulnerable communities. These solutions are not mutually exclusive, and it will probably take a combination of initiatives to deal with the various problems that have contributed to the rise and expansion of ISIS.

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