Terror calls for coordinated combat

Terror calls for coordinated combat

The terror attack in Barcelona and the resort town of Cambrils in Spain killing 13 and injuring dozens more comes after the fall of Raqqa and Mosul. The message is clear, the Islamic State (IS) might have lost its territory but remains potent as an ideology that can recruit killers around the world.
There is a need to acknowledge that terrorism is a global challenge.
That IS links up with terror groups and modules across the world, creating franchises. It has links with Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda, Hizbul Mujahideen and others. It uses cyberspace, has access to a pool of disgruntled, dissatisfied and sometimes dispossessed people. It is able to continually reach out to new audiences. One idea unites all these terror outfits: anyone who holds values different from theirs is an enemy deserving death.
As long as the ideology survives, terror groups will morph, merge and even improve on terror delivery systems. This not new — the US-led coalition vanquished Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, driving its leader Osama bin Laden into hiding in Pakistan.
The vacuum was filled by a more virulent rendition, called IS. To successfully vanquish terror groups, governments across the world need to defeat the ideology. For that, the major powers must stop differentiating terror strikes in Europe and US from those in Africa and Asia. The US must use its considerable clout with Saudi Arabia to impress upon Riyadh the need to stop the export of Wahhabi Islam and aid to terror outfits that attack Shias.
The events in Barcelona and Cambrils should spur governments to finalise and adopt the UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. India has consistently argued that defeating terrorism requires concerted global effort; it is time to heed its words.