Dante
"intuition and imagination and intelligence"
It's interesting. We have politicians claiming ISIS has been defeated. Yet here we are. And are lone wolves being riled up by actions the US government is involved with?
Authorities have voiced particular concern about the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan called Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K. The group carried out deadly bombings in Iran and Russia last year, and eight Tajik men were detained last year after crossing the southwestern U.S. border when authorities learned they might have ties to the Islamic State.
www.nytimes.com
Authorities have voiced particular concern about the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan called Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K. The group carried out deadly bombings in Iran and Russia last year, and eight Tajik men were detained last year after crossing the southwestern U.S. border when authorities learned they might have ties to the Islamic State.
An Islamic State flag, weapons and a “potential” improvised explosive found in the truck that plowed through crowds in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, killing at least 10 people, have raised the specter that the international terrorist group played a role in the attack.
Law enforcement officials said on Wednesday that they were trying to determine the suspect’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations. Counterterrorism specialists pointed to several telltale signs.
“By carrying an ISIS flag with him during the attack, the suspect wanted to show that he was a true believer, aligned with the ISIS cause, and perhaps hoping to trigger others into following suit,” said Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, a security consulting firm based in New York.
Mr. Clarke said the attack was a fairly sophisticated assault, given the multiple layers involved: truck ramming, firearms and improvised explosive devices.
“This horrific attack is a painful reminder of how effective ISIS propaganda is at inspiring violent extremists, including many living in the West,” he said.
U.S. officials have been warning for months that the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as unrest in Central Asia, could spill into the United States, most likely in the form of small radicalized groups acting on their own initiative or lone-wolf terrorists.
Authorities have voiced particular concern about the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan called Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISIS-K. The group carried out deadly bombings in Iran and Russia last year, and eight Tajik men were detained last year after crossing the southwestern U.S. border when authorities learned they might have ties to the Islamic State.
“At a time when the terrorism threat was already elevated, the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans inside the United States to a whole ’nother level,” Christopher A. Wray, the F.B.I. director, said in a speech in April.
“We continue to be concerned about individuals or small groups drawing twisted inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks here at home,” Mr. Wray said.
Since the last shards of the Islamic State’s religious state, or caliphate, were destroyed in Syria in 2019, the group has been making a slow but steady comeback. It has built on the strength of affiliates in Afghanistan and Africa, as well as in areas of Syria that were formerly controlled by Russia and Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Just last month, the United States conducted one of its largest strikes in Syria against ISIS in months, saying it hit “over 75 targets.” Earlier in 2024, the Pentagon warned that the group’s attacks in Iraq and Syria were on track to double.
But the question on the mind of investigators on Wednesday was to what extent, if at all, the suspect in New Orleans was influenced by ISIS or some other terrorist organization.

New Orleans Attacker Was ‘Inspired’ by ISIS, Biden Says
Investigators who briefed President Biden told him that the suspect had posted videos indicating that he had a “desire to kill.” At least 15 people died in the attack.
In a 2010 article in its magazine, Inspire, Al Qaeda encouraged adherents to use vehicles “to mow down the enemies of Allah.” But the tactic did not really catch on among would-be terrorists until several years later, when the Islamic State began to call publicly for vehicle attacks.