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ISIS exploits weak Iraqi, Syrian states

Historically targeting non-central parts of the countries in which it operates, al-Qaeda, in the form of ISIS, is taking advantage of prevailing instability in Syria and Iraq to deepen its roots.
Blood stains are seen on the ground after a suicide bombing at the Kurdish Internal Security Forces Center (Asayish) at the Suez Canal neighbourhood in Qamishli November 23, 2013. The al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have claimed responsibility for the bombing which killed three people, including two members of the Asayish police force, and nine others wounded, activists said. Picture taken November 23, 2013. REUTERS/Massoud Mohammed (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX15
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Mustafa Alani, a researcher on Security and Terrorism Affairs at the Gulf Center for Research, believes that al-Qaeda — despite its success in reorganizing its ranks in Iraq — still lacks strategic depth and a welcoming environment in the long run. Therefore, it is seeking to establish a more fluid entity in regions on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border to fight the military pressure it could face in Iraq by redeploying itself in the Syrian territories. The opposite would be true if it were faced by Syrian pressure. Hence, the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is a project to build a state that feeds on the failure and fragility of the governments in Iraq and Syria. 

Al-Qaeda’s strategy is based on gradually controlling non-central regions especially in Anbar, northern Babylon, northern Diyala and parts of Mosul, and setting off to shake the control of the federal government in the city centers. Moreover, the organization aims at pushing the army to focus its efforts on defending those centers rather than attacking its camps.

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