26/11 and its aftermath: The world is a very dangerous place today

Mumbai, Nov 26: India today observes another 26/11 anniversary. While saluting the brave who gave up their lives fighting the terrorists, it is once again time to ask the pertinent question and that is how safe are we from terrorist attacks.

While there has been a marked improvement in India where handling of terror related cases are concerned, the world sure has become a more unsafe place.

Today as we speak of the 26/11 attacks, we must also take into consideration a replica of the same which we witnessed in Paris only a few weeks back.

Today the threat is the ISIS which is the most dangerous and dominant outfit in the world.

The world is a dangerous place today:

What the attacks at Paris conveyed that any city can be attacked. It was not a run of the mill attack, but a planned and coordinated one which claimed over a 100 lives.

Going by the functioning of the ISIS, it becomes clear that this group will continue to trouble the world for a long time unless the world powers are serious about eliminating this threat.

The Lashkar-e-Tayiba-e-Tayiba which carried out the 26/11 attack was no doubt a dangerous group. It did nurture global dreams and had set up cells across the globe.

It had roped in operatives such as Sajid Mir to attain the global dream, but the plan was pulled back owing to extreme pressure post 26/11.

The ISI was not ready to sacrifice the Lashkar-e-Tayiba at any cost as it continues to be the most preferred proxy.

The ISI decided that it would engage the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in India to fight the Kashmir battle apart from lending support to the Taliban in Afghanistan.

However, the ISIS does not have any such issues of being controlled by a powerful spy agency. It operates on its own and ideology is what it thrives on to push forth its agenda.

The ISIS menace can be felt in every part of the globe today and the rapid rate at which youth are subscribing to the outfit clearly suggests that it is threatening to become a menace bigger than we may have thought.

Will terror groups come together?

There has been debate that terror outfits may come together and pose a great risk to the world. In the immediate future, one could say with a certain amount of confidence that the coming together of the ISIS and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba is not a possibility.

The Lashkar-e-Tayiba is sectarian in its approach and will subscribe to the ISI. The ISIS on the other hand looks to conquer territory and will not parrot what a spy agency of a country is telling them.

However, there is a greater chance of the ISIS and the al-Qaeda joining hands. After all the ISIS is an off shoot of the al-Qaeda.

Given the current situation, if the ISIS weakens due to the bombardments on its safe houses by various countries, then it may seek out the support of the al-Qaeda.

However, security experts state that there is a greater chance of the two groups coming together in the event of the death of ISIS chief, Abu Bakr al-Bhagdadi.

The ISIS will face a leadership crisis and in a bid to keep the flock together will tie up with the al-Qaeda.
If the coming together of these two groups takes place, then it becomes even more problematic.

The al-Qaeda is strong in several pockets of the world such as Yemen, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. With the backing of the ISIS, it could become a greater menace to deal with.

OneIndia News