ISIS Using ‘Unparalleled’ Violence, Brutality

The Islamic State Sunni terror group uses unparalleled violence and brutality in its quest to achieve primacy over rival Shia Muslims and facilitate restoration of an Islamic Caliphate, says a study, co-authored by two retired FBI agents. The group uses extreme violence and brutality against anyone it perceives as a threat to its goal, said the authors, noting that gratuitous violence has become the organisation’s “brand”.The most defining characteristic of ISIS “is its proclivity to use extreme violence against anyone whom it perceives to be a threat to its continued expansion. It makes little distinction between combatants or civilians, men or women,” co-authors Thomas Neer and Mary Ellen O’Toole noted. The most spectacular example of ISIS’s murderous behaviour are beheadings, which it has recorded live and later uploaded on internet.On a practical level, the group believes that murders committed in this manner will facilitate its demands for ransom, discredit transitional states, discourage foreign investments, and help attract new recruits, the authors explained.