As stated in the article titled The End of the Caliphate Doesn’t Mean the End of ISIS, published in the NPR on March 22, the US-backed forces fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria remnants in Syria have announced the capture of the last of the group’s remaining territories. The Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group supported by the US, has declared a “total elimination of so-called caliphate: and a complete “territorial defeat” of the ISIS. According to the article, at one time, the extremist group controlled an area of Syria and the neighbouring Iraq the size of the Great Britain. It held cities like Mosul and Raqqa with combined populations running into millions. It was able to enforce its authoritarian laws including public beheadings, and to use the territory to recruit more followers. Now the ISIS does not hold any area in Iraq and Syria, although its members have blended in with the local population of these countries. According to the NPR, while the ISIS now does not hold any territory in Iraq or Syria, its ideology remains potent, and it continues to inspire attacks in Europe and Afghanistan. Although the war against the ISIS has ended the group’s brutal rule, the victory has come at a high cost that will continue to cause sufferings for the people of Iraq and Syria. Intensive US air strikes in Mosul, Iraq, Raqqa, Syria, and other cities killed thousands of civilians. Large areas of the cities remain destroyed, with homeless people living in refugee camps, and major reconstruction is needed. As stated by the NPR, the fate of the self-described caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, remains unknown. He has been reported killed perhaps half a dozen times. In 2017, a Russian lawmaker said that a Russian air strike “close to 100 per cent” killed him. American military officials in Syria, however, believe that he is still alive, hiding out in the desert near the Syria-Iraq border. Military operations such as the Zarb-i-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad have proved disastrous for ISIS and its sympathisers. The group has lost its local support for recruitment in Pakistan It is surprising that Abu Baker Al Baghdadi’s violent strategy to establish the caliphate found followers among some sections of the Muslim population. It was perhaps due to weak governance in countries like Iraq and Syria that some parts of their illiterate population saw their salvation in the caliphate announced by the ISIS. Now that the ISIS has been defeated at a high cost, and the resulting death and destruction has been seen by Muslim masses in Iraq and Syria, it can be expected that in future if the ISIS re-emerges, it will not flourish in any Muslim society. Now that the ISIS has been uprooted from Iraq and Syria, there is a perception among some circles that some foreign forces in Afghanistan who are hostile to Pakistan might sponsor ISIS elements in Afghanistan to harm Pakistan’s interests. Some people also believe that if alive, Baghdadi might also be facilitated to escape to Afghanistan to work on establishing a caliphate in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Already being fiercely opposed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, Baghdadi’s ISIS cannot succeed in getting a foothold in Pakistan by using Afghan soil. In Pakistan, the ISIS elements that had fled from Iraq and Syria a few years ago when they were under attack there have tried to get a foothold, but they have been badly defeated. As has been mentioned in the article titled Already Routed in Syria, ISIS Loses Ground in Pak-Afghan Region by Muhammad Ahil, published in Pakistan Forward on March 29, members of the ISIS fleeing from Syria after being routed there would not find a welcoming base in Pakistan (as per experts and security analysts). It is because the terrorist group “has lost its power base in Pakistan, and it is also facing tough resistance from the Taliban in Afghanistan.” Moreover, military operations such as the Zarb-i-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad have proved disastrous for ISIS and its sympathisers. The group has lost local support for recruitment in Pakistan. In Pakistan, renowned muftis and ulema have put their trust in the government and the armed forces through issuing of a consensus fatwa, Paigham-i-Pakistan, to repudiate extremist ideologies of terrorist outfits like the ISIS. According to this fatwa, Pakistani state and the government are Islamic in accordance with Shariah, and no individual or a group can proclaim its rule and jihad in Pakistan. Now that people are aware of the deceptive tactics of the ISIS, they will reject their ideology and offer full support to security forces. The writer, a retired army officer, is a senior research fellow at the Strategic Vision Institute, Islamabad