The assailants sped across London Bridge in a white van, ramming into pedestrians. They later emerged from the van with hunting knives and began stabbing people in Borough Market, a nearby nightspot.
The attackers were quickly chased down and killed by British police. On May 22, a suicide bomber attacked a concert arenain the city of Manchester, killing 22 people. Two months earlier, a driver mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London, and tried to break into Parliament before being shot and killed by security forces.
The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for all of these attacks, and it now seems that the terrorist group will be quick to adopt nearly every attack on civilians, especially in the West. These claims of responsibility tend to be somewhat generic — they don’t show the IS’s involvement in the planning or execution of attacks — but they do help the group in its propaganda efforts.
These self-directed and “lone wolf” attacks are not an accident. They are the result of an organised, decade-old movement within Islamic jihadism to decentralise attacks and make them more diffuse. This trend predated the emergence of the IS — it can be traced back to al-Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks.While al-Qaeda was a hierarchical organisation, its leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy and eventual successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, realised that maintaining training camps and central control was not going to work after the group was forced out of its base in Afghanistan under U.S. bombing. Before the September 11 attacks, bin Laden had relied on recruits trained at Afghan camps, and many had personally pledged allegiance to him.But even while in hiding, bin Laden and al-Zawahiri frequently addressed their supporters through dozens of videos, audiotapes and Internet statements. They encouraged new recruits to act autonomously under al-Qaeda’s banner, and they helped inspire hundreds of young men to carry out suicide or conventional bombings in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Spain, Britain and elsewhere.
After a large number of al-Qaeda’s leaders were killed, captured or forced to flee, one of bin Laden’s former bodyguards in Afghanistan described the group’s revamped operations to an Arabic newspaper. “Every element of al-Qaeda is self-activated,” he said. “Whoever finds a chance to attack simply goes ahead. The decision is theirs alone.”
Today, the IS has expanded and perfected this concept of the “leaderless jihad.” And it is now wreaking havoc and spreading fear, both in the West and in West Asia.The latest wave of attacks fits into a series of appeals by IS leaders for their supporters to carry out self-directed assaults that use any means necessary to kill civilians, especially in the West. As the group continues to face a U.S.-led bombing campaign against its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, it is losing the territory and fighters that make up the backbone of its self-declared caliphate. As a result, the IS is turning towards both centrally organised plots and individual attacks carried out by sympathisers to reassert its claim as the world’s leading jihadist movement.
One of the major inspirations for this strategy is Abu Musab al-Suri, a veteran jihadist ideologue and an al-Qaeda leader who worked with bin Laden and al-Zawahiri in the 1990s. After he became disillusioned with al-Qaeda’s leaders and direction following the September 11 attacks, Suri published a 1,600-page manifesto titled, “A Call to a Global Islamic Resistance”, on the Internet in 2005.
In the document, which is still widely shared in jihadist circles, Suri calls for a wave of “individual jihad” in which independent operatives — sometimes self-radicalised and other times assisted by recruiters on the Internet — would target Western civilians in an effort to sow chaos and terror. Suri described his jihadist philosophy as “no organizations, just principles”.
With a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, Suri was captured by Pakistan’s security services in late 2005. He was reportedly turned over to the Central Intelligence Agency and was then sent to his native Syria, where he was wanted by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. After the Syrian war began in 2011, there were reports that Suri was among hundreds of al-Qaeda and other militant operatives freed by the Assad regime. Many of those operatives went on to become leaders of IS and the Nusra Front, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. But other reports, including statements by jihadist leaders, say that Suri is still being held by Assad’s regime.
1. Who was/were the al-Qaeda leader/s according to the passage?
I. Aymanal-Zawahiri
II. bin Laden
III. Abu Musab al-Suri
A. Only i
B. Only iii
C. Both i and ii
D. All i, ii and iii
E. Only ii
2. Which of the following statement is not true according to the passage?
I. This trend predated the emergence of the IS — it can be traced back to al-Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
II. After the Syrian war began in 2011, there was no report that Suri was among hundreds of al-Qaeda and other militant operatives freed by the Assad regime.
III. Before the September 11 attacks, bin Laden had relied on recruits trained at Afghan camps, and many had personally pledged allegiance to him.
A. Only i
B. Only ii
C. Both i and ii
D. Only ii
E. Both i and iii
3. How did laden and al-Zawahiri frequently address their supporters?
I. Videos
II. Audios
III. Internet statements
A. Only i
B. Only iii
C. Both i and iii
D. Only ii
E. All i, ii and iii
4. Which of the following statement is/are true according to the passage?
I. Two months earlier, a driver mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London, and tried to break into Parliament before being shot and killed by security forces.
II. They encouraged new recruits to act autonomously under al-Qaeda’s banner, and they helped inspire hundreds of young men to carry out suicide or conventional bombings in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Spain, Britain and elsewhere.
III. Before the September 11 attacks, bin Laden had relied on recruits trained at Afghan camps, and many had personally pledged allegiance to him.
A. Only ii
B. Only iii
C. Only i
D. All are true
E. Both i and iii
5. Arrange the following statements according to the passage.
I. it is losing the territory and fighters
II. As the group continues to face a U.S.-led bombing campaign against
III. its strongholds in Syria and Iraq,
IV. that make up the backbone of its self-declared caliphate.
A. II, I, IV, III
B. I, IV, II, III
C. II, III, IV, I
D. II, IV, I, III
E. II, III, I, IV
6. Choose the word which is MOST SIMILAR in meaning of the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
HAVOC
I. Hineage
II. Divastion
III. Demure
A. Only i
B. Only ii
C. Only iii
D. Both I and ii
E. Both I and iii
7. Choose the word which is MOST SIMILAR in meaning of the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
Assailants
I. Aggressor
II. Assaulter
III. Perspective
A. Only ii
B. Both i and ii
C. Both i and iii
D. Both ii and iii
E. Only ii
8. Choose the word which is MOST OPPOSITE in meaning of the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
chaos
I. Bedlam
II. Topsyturydom
III. Arrangement
A. Only iii
B. Only ii
C. Only i
D. Both I and ii
E. None of these
B. Both i and ii
C. Both i and iii
D. Both ii and iii
E. Only ii
8. Choose the word which is MOST OPPOSITE in meaning of the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
chaos
I. Bedlam
II. Topsyturydom
III. Arrangement
A. Only iii
B. Only ii
C. Only i
D. Both I and ii
E. None of these
Answers With Explanation
1. Ans. E.
Solution: While al-Qaeda was a hierarchical organisation, its leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy and eventual successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, realised that maintaining training camps and central control was not going to work after the group was forced out of its base in Afghanistan under U.S. bombing.2. Ans. B.
Solution: After the Syrian war began in 2011, there werereports that Suri was among hundreds of al-Qaeda and other militant operatives freed by the Assad regime.3. Ans. E.
Solution: (al-Zawahiri frequently addressed their supporters through dozens of videos, audiotapes and Internet statements.)4. Ans. D.
Solution: All the above statements are true5. Ans. E.
Solution: (As the group continues to face a U.S.-led bombing campaign against its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, it is losing the territory and fighters that make up the backbone of its self-declared caliphate.)6. Ans. B.
Solution: Havoc: तबाही:Divastion7. Ans. B.
Solution: Assailants: आक्रमणकारी: Aggressor, Assaulter8. Ans. A.
Solution: Chaos: अव्यवस्था
Arrangement: व्यवस्तिथ
Arrangement: व्यवस्तिथ
