CIA chief: ISIS is not losing ‘global reach’

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Islamic State may be losing ground on the battlefield, but not its global reach, says the CIA chief who expects ISIS to step up attacks on Western targets. 

"Unfortunately, despite all our progress against ISIL [ISIS] on the battlefield and in the financial realm, our efforts have not reduced the group's terrorism capability and global reach," said John Brennan, CIA Director, speaking at an open hearing of the Senate intelligence committee on Thursday. 

Brennan said that the Islamic State is building a global network with branches around the world including Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Boko Haram in West Africa, noting that ISIS now has far more fighters than al Qaeda had at its peak. 

The group’s reach along with its large number of Western fighters means ISIS has built a network to carry out terrorist attacks, as in Paris and Brussels, and to inspire lone wolf attacks as in San Bernardino and, possibly, Orlando. 

"ISIL has a large cadre of Western fighters who could potentially serve as operatives for attacks in the West," Brennan said. "Furthermore, as we have seen in Orlando, San Bernardino and elsewhere, ISIL is attempting to inspire attacks by sympathizers who have no direct links to the group."

One way ISIS has developed its global network is through social media, where the group has shown a great deal of savvy manipulating it to its purpose. 

A software tool, unveiled on Friday, hopes to combat Islamic State’s online threat.

The Counter Extremism Project, a Washington-based NGO, has proposed a software tool, developed by Hany Farid of Dartmouth University, to quickly find and delete online content used to spread messages of violence and extremist ideology. 

If the tool is adopted by Internet firms, it could be used to stop the spread of viral images and videos produced by the group and would “go a long way to making sure that online extremist is no longer pervasive,” said Mark Wallace, chief executive of the Counter Extremism Project.  

Islamic State has lost some 40,000 square kilometres of territory in Iraq and Syria and is “under stress” financially after its oil revenues have been cut by about one-third, it was confirmed at a meeting of the 66-member international anti-ISIS coalition in Washington last week. 

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