Oman Mosque Attack: Islamic State group’s new strategy of surprise and dramatic strikes

At the corner of the Arabian Peninsula, Oman has long been seen as one of the safest, secluded countries in the Middle East, spared of militant violence that has struck elsewhere. Such attacks “are designed to show its resilience, that it still exists,” after a U.S-led coalition shattered its hold in Iraq and Syria, Fawaz Gerges said. In Iraq and Syria, IS fighters hiding in the desert border regions are trying to “reconstitute” with stepped-up attacks,” the U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday. The Islamic State group exploded onto the world stage 10 years ago when its fighters captured a large swath of Iraq and Syria and declared a “caliphate.” At its peak, it ruled an area half the size of the United Kingdom, and imposed a virulently radical version of Islamic law, inflicting harsh punishments of Muslims considered apostates, killing thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority and enslaving thousands of the community’s women and children. Fawaz said the group is reshaping itself as a dangerous “transnational organisation.” “It is fragmented, with little central command of its various branches – but each of those affiliates is working to expand,” he said.