Group looking for attention as it loses ground in Iraq and Syria
The blast occurred as hundreds of worshippers were dancing and chanting at the shrine of the Sufi saint Shah Noorani. A teenage suicide bomber blew himself up causing widespread damage at the shrine.
“The pressure of the blast was so strong, people were blown away. Everyone was running, shouting and searching for families,” Moahammed Shehzad, 25, who had travelled in a group of 120 pilgrims told the AFP News Agency. “People were looking for the mothers and fathers. People looking for brothers and sisters but no one was able to listen to their cries.”
The attack killed at least 52, and wounded more than 105. It came just a few weeks after another attack claimed by Islamic State on a police academy in the same province killed more than 60 people.
Analysts say that Islamic State has been increasing its presence in Pakistan, and has partnered with one of Pakistan’s most violent sectarian groups. It comes as Islamic State has lost significant ground in both Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, a US-backed coalition has been advancing toward Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which Islamic State took over in 2014. In Syria, Russian-backed troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, have made significant gains.
“Islamic State has been restricted today largely to Iraq where it could well face defeat, although it will take months before we can assess how Islamic State will mutate next,” Sabahat Khan, a senior analysts at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA) told The Media Line. “Islamic State is a fluid group which relies on its narrative and decentralization more than an organized command hierarchy.”
He said that Islamic State has found it difficult to penetrate Pakistan, where most of the population supports Sufi Islam, rather than the strict version that Islamic State supports. Khan said that Islamic State fighters fleeing Iraq and Syria are more likely to relocate to North Africa and Europe, which is where many of their members originate from.
Other analysts say that the world should expect more Islamic State terrorist attacks, especially by suicide bombers, which are difficult for intelligence agencies to stop.
“They are changing their tactics back to suicide bombs and individual attacks,” Dylan O’Driscoll, a research fellow at the Middle East Research Institute in Iraq told The Media Line. “The more they are pushed out of their traditional areas, the more likely they are to increase their activities in places like Pakistan. The tactics have changed though, as they are not attempting to take territory, but are rather attempting to undermine the state through targeted attacks.”
The fight against Mosul has become a symbol for both the international community, and Islamic State is feeling under pressure. At the same time, Pakistan is not their central focus. At the same time, Islamic State emerged from al-Qa’ida which is still popular there.
“They have offshoots in about ten countries including Libya and Egypt and Yemen and West Africa, so Pakistan is just another one of several,” Reuven Ehrlich of the Terrorism Information Center in Israel told the Media Line. “It is important because al-Qa’ida emerged from Afghanistan and Pakistan. At the same time, their main effort is in Iraq and Syria.”
Katie Beiter contributed reporting