Isis is still alive and a menace, even though we’re not paying attention

A resurgence of Isis, or some version of it, is almost inevitable given the deep failures of many governments in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, writes Borzou Daragahi

A Pakistani pedestrian walks past graffiti that reads ‘Daesh’, the arabic acronym for Isis, in Quetta (AFP/Getty)

In the days before New Year’s Eve festivities began, Turkey’s security forces announced the arrests of some three dozen suspected Isis operatives scattered in safehouses across the country.

Turkey wasn’t alone in confronting Isis. In neighbouring Iraq, the military killed at least 22 Isis fighters in ground operations and airstrikes in central, northern and western regions of the country in the last 11 days of 2021, just after the jihadi group claimed responsibility for a series of roadside bomb attacks.

Despite the “defeat” of Isis being declared by the then US president Donald Trump more than three years ago, the jihadi group launched 342 attacks in northern Syria alone in 2021 – almost an attack a day – according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.