Greater Cooperation
France has been sounding alarms about the ongoing threat posed by the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K) to Europe and the wider world. The group, which claimed responsibility for the Friday night attack in Moscow, reportedly conducted several attempts in recent months to strike on French soil. The assessment was shared by President Emmanuel Macron upon his arrival in French Guiana, kicking off a brief swing through parts of South America. In the wake of the Moscow massacre that claimed at least 137 lives and left more than 180 injured, the French government had already announced that it would raise its anti-terrorist alert to the highest level. This move followed a previous spike in vigilance after the affair and reflected France’s heightened concern ahead of upcoming events.
Macron described the decision to reinforce the Vigipirate security system as coherent. France, which endured significant jihadist attacks in 2015 and 2016 and has faced periodic incidents since, had already elevated its alert level to the maximum on October 13. The authorities also noted the killing of a prominent professor and, in the days that followed, the deadly escalation in the Gaza conflict. Yet in January, vigilance was stepped back by one notch. Authorities fear the IS-K threat especially as Paris prepares to host the Olympic Games this summer, a high-profile target that international security agencies keep firmly in their sights.
Macron stressed the importance of coordinated international action when outlining a path forward. He stated that Russia and its regional partners must see a broader, more robust cooperation. The aim is to monitor and prevent any instrumentalization or misrepresentation of real security threats. He added that both sides should maintain stringent, effective measures, and he expressed hope that Moscow would adopt a similar stance in return. The comments came amid ongoing discussions about the ties between Ukraine and the Moscow attack, with two suspects linked to events near Ukrainian and Belarusian borders having been detained in the wake of the Crocus City Hall incident in Moscow.
In addition to the Moscow attack, IS-K has claimed responsibility for another significant assault, the January 4 strike in the south-central region of Iran, which left 84 people dead. This same branch, formed in 2014 and named after a historic region spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran, has previously been linked to the deaths of numerous civilians in Kabul in August 2021, including the fatalities at Hamid Karzai International Airport. In recent weeks, German authorities detained two men suspected of preparing an attack on a national parliament in another country, underscoring the broader danger IS-K poses across Europe and beyond.
The IS-K affiliation in this context is often described as the most active and dangerous segment of the Islamic State for the time being. A comprehensive report by the Washington Institute, released on March 20, warns that IS-K poses the largest global threat to the organization right now. Five years after ISIS’s defeats in Syria, IS-K is viewed as the most capable and menacing branch, capable of orchestrating large-scale operations with a tactical approach reminiscent of the Paris attacks in 2015. The report emphasizes that the threat is not confined to foreign groups; it also involves a domestic dimension within France and other Western nations, where individuals with ties to or sympathies for jihadist causes can be found among residents who have lived in Europe for years yet maintain links to distant regions in the Russian Caucasus and adjacent areas.
Security experts caution that IS-K’s capacity to strike in capital cities with heavy surveillance demonstrates the organization’s ability to operate at a scale once feared to be a thing of the past. This reality has forced authorities to revisit and elevate counterterrorism tactics, aligning intelligence sharing, border security, and public safety protocols with the elevated threat level. The focus remains on preventing attacks, disrupting recruitment networks, and ensuring rapid response capabilities in the event of a catastrophe. Observers point out that vigilance must continue across multiple fronts, from online propaganda and recruitment to on-the-ground intelligence-gathering and preventative policing, to prevent a repeat of the kinds of high-casualty incidents that have scarred several major cities in recent years.