Daily Times

That the Middle East is becoming a raging inferno, of that there is little doubt but the fact that the fire is spreading so far and wide so fast must give all stakeholders a reason to lose sleep at night. The latest onslaught by militants increasingly climbing onto the Islamic State (IS) bandwagon took place on Sunday when militant gunmen attacked the South Korea embassy in Tripoli, Libya, one of the last few remaining foreign embassies in the war-ravaged country. Bullets were fired at the embassy and two local security guards were killed. No South Koreans were harmed but the attack has further deepened the security crisis any foreigners remaining in Libya might face. The attack has been claimed by militants claiming loyalty to IS, the dreaded terrorist organisation that is known for its savage tactics, brutal punishments and the conquering of large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

While the militants that attacked the South Korean embassy may not be IS militants per se, they are part of a larger, now more globally pervasive franchise. IS has made a call to arms to almost all terror groups the world over, having them pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of IS. That is why many terror groups, from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to the Boko Haram in Nigeria, all are rushing forth with pledges of loyalty to IS. What we see now is the bloody ‘blossoming’ of the IS franchise and if steps are not taken immediately to beat back this trend, there may be no stopping the rampage.
The South Korean embassy was targeted because it was one of the last few foreign offices with a presence in the country with a skeletal staff carrying on business. The IS mission is to expand, loot, plunder and burn, and of course execute all hint of western and international presence. That is what the militant franchise is doing all over the Middle East. Libya especially has been rife with civil war since the overthrow of Gaddafi in 2011. There are pro-Gaddafi forces and rebels propped up by the west all vying for space in the country that has seen nothing but turmoil since the eruption of the Arab Spring. It is this void that is being filled by fanatical elements and IS is the biggest threat facing the region right now. The coalition of the ‘willing’ needs to recognise this threat and fill the void with solutions, not indifference that could completely douse the region in strife. *