In recent days, the issue of terrorism makes international headlines. Terrorist networks have triggered a sense of public disappointment through their cruel practices and carry out attacks and suicide bombings in every nook and cranny. Despite the defeat of the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group, terrorists still seek to extend their reach around the globe.
The destructive and bloody suicide bombings carried out around the world bespeak of the sinister objectives of terrorist networks. They never tend to stop violence and bloodshed. The Friday’s bomb-and-gun attack on a mosque in Egypt, which left 305 dead and 120 wounded behind, fill one with strong fear and hatred and, once against, reveal the ugly face of terrorists – who are mostly operating under the cloak of religion. The attackers were said to carry a flag representing the IS group. There are many fundamental groups which continue shedding the blood of men, women, and children on the grounds of their race, religions, etc. It is really shocking to see that those who operate under the sacred term of religion, kill worshippers in sacred place. Such attacks are rife in territories where the IS group operates. For example, the IS loyalists carried out many deadly attacks on mosques in Afghanistan and sought to foment sectarian violence.
The fundamental ideologies of terrorists know no religious or moral boundaries. They have simply adopted religion as their shield to justify their inhuman acts and trap people to join them. Take, for example, the IS group. After the defeat of IS, Iraqi officials have found the sites of more than 70 mass graves, numbers that have overwhelmed the nation’s police and forensics resources as well as the Iraqis’ international partners helping to search for tens of thousands of missing people.
A 25-year-old shepherd Omar reveals his memory about IS practices in Hawija Town, Iraq. Omar and his family heard the gunshots and screams emanating from inside the base of IS group. Later that night, when the area appeared deserted, Omar climbed the earthen walls to see what had happened. The scene surpassed his worst nightmares. Dozens of bodies, some clothed and some burned, lay scattered across the frigid ground in large sticky pools of blood. “The stench was unbearable. You can’t imagine the feeling of seeing the bodies of children, of people that my family and I knew,” Omar is cited as saying.
Omar felt outrage about the killings, as well as the indignity of the unburied bodies’ likely desecration by wild dogs. He shook off his fear of being discovered by Islamic State and tried to do the decent thing for the victims. By starlight, for several nights in a row, he dug several shallow pits and pulled, by his count, 60 bodies into a makeshift grave.
Omar’s memory about the practices of IS group reflects a drop of the ocean of IS’s cruelties. The IS group besmirched the history and their violent acts surpassed the practices of many terrorist networks. Hence, targeting a number of worshippers in holy places will be one of their common practices.
It is believed that nothing is sacred for the militants. Recently, the United Nations revealed that insurgent groups were involved in human smuggling often for the purpose of sexual slavery and forced labor. The Security Council reiterated its condemnation of trafficking of people at its session on Tuesday – especially regarding the sale of people by IS, as well as other violations and abuses by Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, the Lord’s Resistance Army and other such groups for the purpose of sexual slavery, sexual exploitation and forced labor. These incidents show that terrorist networks violate all religious and moral principles. After all, they have frequently violated humanitarian law and killed civilians intentionally.
Needless to say, terrorist networks have triggered global worries and target people in many parts of the world. Since violence and cruelty run in their blood, both the ideologues and mercenaries seek to kill people so as to destabilize the world. That is to say, the militant fighters do not only carry out ideological war but also proxy war. If they were not supported by mysterious hands, they would not grow that much strong. Many political analysts believe that the ongoing war in the Middle East is a project and the militant fighters are political pawns that are used in this war.
To reduce militancy and safeguard the rights and freedoms of all human beings, the human societies will have to launch a campaign against terrorism with bona fide intention. If the entire world is not united against terrorism, the war and violence will continue unabated. It is not only the issue of military campaign but also social and cultural campaign against their ideology and propaganda.