Scenes of panic, pools of blood and religious icons shattered by gunfire – the images from Sunday’s appalling terrorist attack on worshippers gathered in Damascus’s Mar Elias Church are reminiscent of previous outrageous attacks committed against vulnerable Christian communities in other Middle Eastern countries, particularly Iraq and Egypt.
Mar Elias joins a long list of atrocities carried out by extremists determined to impose their dogma on the peoples of the region – and Christians are not the only targets. Civilians from various walks of life have been targeted, sometimes tourists, at other times people at religious gatherings.
At a time when the crisis involving Israel, Iran and the US is rightly commanding the attention of the international community and national leaders, it is understandable that the threat posed by domestic terrorism might fall in the list of political and security priorities. This would be a mistake.
The Damascus attack, which the Syrian Ministry of Health blamed on “a suicide bomber affiliated with the terrorist group ISIS”, is the latest example of extremists exploiting uncertainty and instability, particularly in fragile societies. As the global focus remains fixed on preventing the Middle East war from spreading further, attacking soft targets such as Mar Elias Church is a characteristically cruel way for militants to demonstrate their relevance and further destabilise the countries in which they operate by exacerbating sectarian divisions. More instability is the last thing the region needs at this time of acute crisis.
Organisations such as ISIS need little excuse to carry out murderous attacks against those they consider to be their enemies. However, there is a real risk that similar attacks could take place while the state-level conflict playing out between Israel and Iran threatens to divert attention, intelligence and security resources away from the difficult work of containing and countering extremist radicals.
If counterterrorism finds itself struggling for support as governments reckon with the risk of war, armed cells in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Yemen will have an opportunity to rebuild, recruit and carry out more attacks. Indeed, the longer the conflict between Israel and Iran plays out, the more unpredictable are its effects. Attacks from any side on targets in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen could exacerbate an already-volatile situation. Prolonged conflict could also lead to further weapons proliferation in the Middle East, allowing ISIS and other radicals to rearm. A security vacuum in Syria, where ISIS has repeatedly tried to free thousands of imprisoned members, would be particularly dangerous.
Despite their many setbacks in recent years, ISIS and its fellow travellers have proved to be worryingly resilient. The group has carried out dozens of attacks in Syria since the start of this year and ISIS affiliates have struck military and civilian targets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Mozambique.
The attack on Christian worshippers in a poor Damascus suburb may, at first glance, seem unconnected to wider instability in the Middle East. As terrorists strike at brittle societies’ pressure points, however, the risk of additional security challenges mounts. Co-operation and intelligence sharing must not be neglected. The price for doing so is paid by ordinary people, such as the congregation of Mar Elias Church.
