ISIS and Al-Qaeda terrorist groups can unite, director of the Executive Committee of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, Yevgeny Sysoyev, warned during the anti-terrorist forum in Krasnoyarsk.
"Among the predicted threats we do not exclude the possibility of unification of ISIS and Al-Qaeda groupes in a single network capable of covering many countries of the world with its dormant and active cells," RIA Novosti cited him as saying.
Sysoev clarified that there are a lot of militants in Afghanistan who formerly fought in the Middle East, and now they are trying to continue their activities. According to him, ISIS is preparing and transfering groups to Europe, Central and South-East Asia, as well as Russia. These groups, Sysoev explained, often use the tactics of random selection of targets in large megacities, they use any improvised means. In addition, online training is widespread among the supporters of terrorists.
The deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association, Andrey Baklanov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, explained that we should not attach much importance to the statements of leaders of terrorist associations, because they do not reflect what is really happening. "These are completely closed organizations, and statements made for the media have a definite purpose," the expert noted.
According to him, it is obvious that international terrorism is not going to calm down, will only change its forms and methods. "Initially, there was a contradiction between those who advocated the creation of an open state association in the form of ISIS, and those who opposed it, because it will expose terrorist associations to the blows of army formations. In 2011, the first faction won the dispute and formed ISIS, and now it seems that their opponents are taking revenge. It is clear now that they will change the way of action. But they are not going to abandon the terrorist struggle and extremist convictions," the deputy head of the Council of the Russian Diplomats Association said.
"The danger is that now the line of those who are set up to conduct a covert struggle against the far-reaching goals of the international community is winning, so it will be more difficult to struggle with them. And we need to be adjusted to the fact that the struggle does not stop, it changes forms and becomes much more complex. Therefore, a large number of additional specialists are required, including people who are very good in appropriate languages," Andrey Baklanov concluded.
A military observer of the TASS news agency, retired Colonel Viktor Litovkin, drew attention to the issue of a possible sponsor of Al-Qaeda. "Any terrorist movement is meaningless without sponsors. We know that ISIS in Syria was fueled by the US, the Persian Gulf states, even by Turkey at one time. Whether they will find new sponsors? I tink so, because terrorism is in fashion today," he said.
According to the expert, the restoration of Al-Qaeda carries a serious threat to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, as well as Central Asian countries and even certain regions of China.
Viktor Litovkin doubted the significant influence of the new factor on the balance of power in the world, since, according to him, the balance of forces between NATO and Russia, the US and Russia, the US and China will not be affected. However, the expert noted, the tension will certainly grow, first of all, for the Russian side. "I think that Europe should think about its role in this fight against international terrorism," he concluded.
