AL MAYADIN, SYRIA MARCH 22: An SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) fighter looks over seized ISIL weapons. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
DUBAI: Transitioning from machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and basic light rocket launchers to drones, guided munition and ballistic missiles, armed groups branded as terrorist by the United States and other countries have become more widespread, technologically savvy and much better armed since the start of the global war on terrorism 20 years ago. The transformation was not limited to military capabilities for some but to their very nature from non-state actors to state actors.
When the United States launched the Global War on Terrorism right after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the focus was on al-Qaida, a relatively small, Sunni terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden and based in Afghanistan with some cells in neighboring countries. But the US would expand its counter-terrorism horizons to include another major player in international terrorism: the Shia militant group Hezbollah, based in Lebanon and supported by Iran.
At the time, both groups were armed with the basic Soviet-era weapons for guerrilla warfare such as rifles, machineguns, RPGs, early generation wire-guided anti-tank missiles and 107-mm and 122-mm rockets and some basic radio communication systems.
But in the two decades since, al-Qaida splinter groups like the recently defeated Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) used drones, encrypted communications and even social media to recruit, plan and fight against the worlds most powerful militaries. Al-Qaidas former host in Afghanistan, the Taliban, has gone from militant group dominating some tribal areas to the seat of power in Kabul.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, is equipped with state of the art weapons, some of which are US-made, like M-113 armored personnel carriers and M4 rifles. Its infantry units are reportedly armed with laser guided anti-tank missiles like the Russian Cornet, and anti-ship cruise missiles like the C-802 and about 150-thousand missiles of various caliber mostly built by Iran that are believed to include ballistic missiles.
Hezbollahs area of operations has expanded through dispatching trainers and advisors to Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and its early warning and communications capabilities have become more sophisticated with an arsenal of drones, low-band and high-band radios and a state-of-the-art fiber-optic network covering all of Lebanon. Its operatives and trainers went on to help Iran establish militias in Iraq and Syria groups that the US has added to its of terrorists list.
Experts told Breaking Defense that basically three developments have driven the evolution of terrorist organizations since 9/11: Easy access to dual-use technology, partnerships with transnational organized crime, and the shift of focus of some groups from undermining the state to trying to become it.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Abduallah Sayed Al-Hashemi, former assistant undersecretary at the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defense, places much of the blame for the resiliency of terror groups at the feet of the US.
The US-led war on terrorism lacked a clearly-defined strategy and engaged in futile military conflicts in Iraq and other places that resulted in the rise of new terrorist groups and the empowering of others with help from actors such as Iran, he said.
But technology too progressed in parallel with the War on Terrorism, and while it benefited the militaries and law enforcement agencies of the world, it also benefited insurgent and terrorist groups worldwide.
Commercial drones and satellite imagery allow groups with minimal expertise to observe and attack secure facilities, and the internet allows small groups to dispatch commands and orders around the world instantly and at negligible cost, said David Des Roches, professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at National Defense University in Washington. Because these are mostly commercial capabilities modified for battle, virtually every terrorist group in the world has access to them. So now security services have to think in three dimensions instead of two.
Although a lot of the new technology is easy to access by terror groups, other more sophisticated and more lethal technology and weapons could only be accessed through states, and in this case Iran which can mean, by extension, Hezbollah and many others.
Iran has provided terrorist groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen with attack drones, ballistic missiles and command and control systems, said Al-Hashemi. The poor leadership of the global war on terrorism has allowed this proliferation of such weapons to these groups.
Many scholars have acknowledged the increased collaboration between terrorist groups and organized crime in many regions a consequence of US and allied success in clamping down on terrorists traditional financing networks. The anti-money laundering laws and sanctions on companies and charities that funded terrorist groups have compelled the latter to seek new partners and means to secure funds and be able to smuggle weapons and operatives.
The presence of organized crime helps terrorism because it erodes law and order and facilitates the trafficking of things terrorists need, such as weapons and explosives. Individuals have been known to work in both terrorist and criminal organizations, especially in conflict areas, said Des Roches.
Then theres the equipment and technology the US unintentionally provided.
Al-Qaidas original ally in Afghanistan, the Taliban, has recently regained control of the country and captured a large arsenal of U.S.-made weapons that were supplied to the Afghani military. In stark photos and videos following the collapse of the Afghan government, some of the Taliban own special forces fighters were seen dressed and equipped like modern-day crack-troops armed with M4 rifles and equipped with night-vision goggles. The Taliban also now reportedly has access to sensitive biometric data.
The Afghan Taliban, which was never formally declared a terrorist group by the US even if its sister organizations were, is the most recent, and successful, example of what Mohammad Baharoon said was an evolution in militant strategy.
The modern-day terrorist groups are not just seeking to export ideology but are seeking to rule countries, said Baharoon, director general of Bhuth think tank in Dubai.
ISIS, for instance, did manage to briefly establish its own caliphate in Iraq and Syria, with its own dull bureaucracy, before being beaten back. The most complicated example is Hezbollah, which has been a political entity in Lebanon for decades.
In this new era of quasi-legitimacy, there appear to be differences between Washington and some of its European and Asian allies on which groups should be regarded as terrorists and how to deal with them.
The United States, Britain and Germany regard Hezbollah in Lebanon as a terrorist group and have subsequently imposed sanctions on its leadership and entities affiliated with it. However, France and the EU regard Hezbollah as a Lebanese political party and its officials hold talks and meetings with the Partys leadership on state level.
During President Donald Trumps administration Washington regarded the Iranian-backed Houthi group in Yemen a terrorist organization. But President Joe Biden reversed this decision.
Now that the Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan and the international community is debating whether to recognize it as the legitimate ruler of the country.
Pointing to the cases of Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas, Baharoon said, Terrorism has been politicized and it has become difficult to countries such as the United States and the EU not to deal with some of these organizations as political actors and not as radical groups carrying out systematic terror attacks under the banner of resistance.
Link:
The Evolution of Terror Groups Since 9/11: From Tech to Politics - Breaking Defense
- Days of our Lives' Suzanne Rogers on the Evolution of Maggie: "She Knows Who She Is Now, and She's Not Relying ... - Michael Fairman TV - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Kylie Jenner Talks About Her Style Evolution - The Cut - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Equator Coffees Unveils New Packaging Design, Reflecting Brand Evolution & Vision For The Future - Sprudge - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Rosewood Hotel Group Accelerates Growth And Evolution Across Its Four Distinctive Brands - Hospitality Net - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Thomson Reuters Unveils New Brand Evolution - Adweek - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Is It Becoming Acceptable to Speak of Design? - Discovery Institute - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Did Charles Darwin Convert to Christianity and Discredit Evolution on His Deathbed? - Snopes.com - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Milk, it's not just for mammals: An amphibian makes it too - NPR - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Discover Puerto Rico Debuts Evolution of Its Successful 'Live Boricua' Brand Campaign Aimed at Engaging Visitors ... - Yahoo Finance - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- A Journey Through Time: The Evolution of Ras Al Khaimah Art - Business Wire - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Empowering Women: The Evolution and Innovation of coto Social Platform - CXOToday.com - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- The Evolution of Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Root - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Study on mating behaviors offers clues into the evolution of attraction - Phys.org - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Dragonball Evolutions live-action Goku says goodbye to Toriyama: Sorry we messed up - AS USA - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Investec, evolution of SMEs in the materials handling sector - Leasing Life - March 14th, 2024 [March 14th, 2024]
- Pride & Prejudice and the evolution of the female gaze on screen - Yahoo News UK - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Joe Wong's Musical Evolution - Shepherd Express - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- A global survey of prokaryotic genomes reveals the eco-evolutionary pressures driving horizontal gene transfer - Nature.com - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Redefining Intelligence: Chimpanzees Break Through the Cultural Evolution Barrier - Medriva - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Mollusk Eyes Reveal How Future Evolution Depends on the Past - Quanta Magazine - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Levy Delves Into the Evolution of ADCs in NSCLC - OncLive - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The Snake Is The Spearhead of Reptile Evolution, But Why? - ScienceAlert - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- 'A very special day: Birds linked to Darwins theory of evolution reintroduced to Galapagos Islands - Euronews - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Why the Powerhouses of Cells Evolve Differently in Plants - College of Natural Sciences - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Driving the DevOps Evolution: ArgoCD, Tekton and Seamless Migrations - DevOps.com - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Finding the Balance: The Evolution of Public Health Guidance Amidst Controversy - Medriva - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Insider Podcast: Paolini dishes on her Polish roots and hard-court evolution - WTA Tennis - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Interview: Sara Gruen and Rick Elice Talk About the Inspiration and Evolution of the New Musical Water for Elephants - TheaterMania.com - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The Evolution of the Laravel Welcome Page - Laravel News - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- A Serpentine 'Explosion' 125 Million Years Ago Primed Snakes for Rapid, Diverse Evolution - Smithsonian Magazine - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The Evolution of Modern Technologies in Car Development - FinSMEs - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Milwaukee Transformed: From Bronzeville to Veterans Park, Aerial Timelapses Reveal City's Evolution - BNN Breaking - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The eyes are a gateway to evolution of daddy longlegs at least. - University of Wisconsin-Madison - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Adrian Newey: RB20 is the next step in Red Bull's design evolution - PlanetSport - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- LiveScore releases its 'Evolution of Fan' report - Gambling Insider - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The loyalty program evolution makes its way to the full-service restaurant category - Nation's Restaurant News - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution #1 spoiler-free review: goes hard on the action, but ... - Gamesradar - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Exploring U.S. Financial Evolution: DAR Hosts Talk on Federal Reserve History in Thomasville - BNN Breaking - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Why cloud evolution needs a cohesive approach to succeed - CIO - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Gilead Sciences CEO on Company's Evolution and Commitment to the Bay Area - BioSpace - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Navigating the AI Quandary: Human Supremacy vs Machine Intelligence Evolution - BNN Breaking - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Denis Villeneuve breaks down the evolution of sandworms in 'Dune: Part Two' - Mashable - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Continued evolution of law improves governing capacity - Chinadaily.com.cn - China Daily - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- The Evolution of the DEX Space with dYdX's CEO Antonio Juliano - Blockster - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Quick Commerce Evolution: 3PL Firms Aim for Same Day Delivery, Chasing Blinkit and Zepto's Lead - BNN Breaking - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- What If...? Star Jeffrey Wright Addreses the Watcher's Evolution and 'Epic' Season 2 Finale - CBR - Comic Book Resources - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Evolution of the Connected Autonomous Vehicle - Ward's Auto - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- A project to capture the evolution of human culture. - Psychology Today - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The Evolution of a Digital Soul. Beyond Code: A Journey of Heart and | by Mark Randall Havens | Dec, 2023 - Medium - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- 4 Clues That Reid Is Finally Returning In Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2 - Screen Rant - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Evolution of Samoyed and Kitten's Friendship Delights Internet: 'Wholesome' - Newsweek - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Crypto Evolution: Pullix (PLX) vs OKB (OKB) & KuCoin (KCS) - Crypto Reporter - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Alfa Romeos mediocre F1 season heralded its era of evolution: Prime Tire - The Athletic - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Beyond The Uniform: 10 Years of Evolution in SYNC Performance's Custom Program - SkiRacing.com - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Why SZA's evolution into a popstar has earned her recognition as artist of the year - Salon - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- AI in 2023 Rises, Falls and Evolution - Finance Magnates - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Indonesia's Indosat pursues evolution from telecom to tech company - Nikkei Asia - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- EdTech Evolution: 3 Stocks Educating the Next Generation - InvestorPlace - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Informa Tech Interview with Huawei about voice evolution and innovations at 5G Core Summit 2023 - Informa Tech ... - Light Reading - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Looking ahead: What will the DeFi evolution look like in 2024? - Ledger Insights - Ledger Insights - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Why Cat Bohannon wrote 'Eve, How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution' | India News ... - IndiaTimes - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The smart-design evolution of the laboratory space - pharmaphorum - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The WILD Evolution of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TMNT (VIDEO) - FandomWire - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The supernatural invades American museums via indigenous artifacts - Why Evolution Is True - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Baleen Whales First Evolved Large Body Size in Cold Southern Waters, New Fossil Shows - Sci.News - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The Evolution of Identity in Taiwan The Diplomat - The Diplomat - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- From the Archive: The Evolution Of Hockey Pools - The Hockey News - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- 'X-Men: Evolution' Is Better Than 'X-Men: The Animated Series' - Collider - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Unveiling the Silver Screen: The Evolution of Celebrity Nudity in Cinema - The Hype Magazine - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Are Humans Still Evolving? 'Maybe More Rapidly Than Ever,' Says Scientist - Newsweek - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- The Intersection of Real Estate and Fintech: Evolution, Impact of Policies, and Global Dynamics - CXOToday.com - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Kyle Richards' Style Evolution: Her Best Looks - Us Weekly - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 2's "Deeper Secrets" Teased By Aisha Tyler - Screen Rant - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- Saturday: Hili dialogue Why Evolution Is True - Why Evolution Is True - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- NBA 2K24 MyTEAM New Year Resolution Adds 14 Evolution Cards - ClutchPoints - December 31st, 2023 [December 31st, 2023]
- dive into the history of NASA's logo evolution from the space ... - Designboom - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]
- Resolving the puzzle of same-sex sexual interactions - Nature.com - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]
- The History and Evolution of Black Friday And How It Got Its Name - Yahoo Life - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]
- Evolution of Terran R, with Tim Ellis (Relativity Space) - Payload - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]
- Brownell Raves About Breakout Junior's Evolution - The Clemson Insider - November 8th, 2023 [November 8th, 2023]